Payback
by lizzybudd
Summary: Side Fic - Set in Scarlett's universe, Mikey and Scar try to out prank each other. Silly series of one shots. COMPLETE
1. Mentos

_My gosh this story is late, like a whole month late. I'm so sorry. All I can say is that life is busy, it sucks being a grown up and writers block is a bitch._

 _Anyway, this series of one shots was intended to be an April Fools special but now are just a collection of (hopefully) funny and cute stories about Mikey and Scarlett pranking each other. Set during the months in which Scarlett is first getting stuck into her training with the turtles, they fit in really well around the 'one shot challenge' I did after Christmas. I have seven chapters planned and am going to try to get them out fairly quickly. I was going to release them all at once but...life...good news is they are mostly written :)_

 _I hope you all enjoy!_

 _Disclaimer: I only own Scarlett_

* * *

April tapped the pen against her chin thoughtfully then raised questioning eyes to Scarlett who was seated next to her at the island bench. "What do you think?"

The other girl cast a quick glance at the pad April was writing on then gave a shrug, "Whatever you reckon Red, you're the boss." She dropped her eyes back to her T-phone and tapped the screen a few more times before smirking and shoving the device back into her jeans pocket. Then she propped her chin on one hand and proceeded to stare towards the kitchen doorway as if waiting for something, a small smile playing around her lips as she ignored April completely.

April restrained a sigh. Letting her pen fall to the counter she leaned back on her stool and rubbed at her face tiredly. They hadn't been at this all that long but the redhead was quickly discovering that Scarlett was more of a 'doer' than a 'planner'...or a pain in the ass if you wanted to be blunt about it. When it came to the turtles mutation day, which was happening in a matter of weeks, the girl was pretty much no help whatsoever in thinking up ideas for the surprise party. _Sitting still clearly isn't one of Scarlett's strong suits either_ April thought sourly. The way the other girl squirmed constantly, played with her phone, or got up and down from her seat like a yoyo had April feeling like she was practically torturing Scarlett by keeping her in the kitchen...even though this whole thing had been _her_ idea in the first place...

" _Gah_! **SCARLETT**!" Both girls jumped when a loud yell came from the vicinity of the lounge pit. April frowned at the enraged tone of Mikey's voice, she'd never heard him yell like _that_ before, but Scarlett just broke into a fit of decidedly evil sounding giggles as the orange banded turtle called out again. " _Stop messing with my phone_!"

Slowly April's surprise faded into annoyance as the younger girl continued to snicker. Obviously, instead of listening to plans for the turtles mutation day party, Scarlett had been busy pranking Mikey somehow with her phone. "Maybe we should pick this up another time?" April suggested, trying not to sound too grumpy. After all, she'd been hoping that planning this party would be a chance for her and Scarlett to get to know each other a bit better and that wasn't going to happen if it degenerated into an argument within five minutes. April forced a semblance of a smile onto her face, "Maybe we can come back together when you've had a chance to write down some ideas of your own?"

Scarlett let out a loud snort, finally turning to face April as her eyes flicked from the writing pad still sitting on the bench between them and April's face. "Good one." She said wryly, mouth twisted into a lopsided smile.

"Fine," The smile dropped as April's patience finally ran out, "I thought you were serious about needing my help for this but obviously there are other things you'd rather be doing. How about you just let me know when you're ready to take this seriously...or not. Either is fine by me." She finished in a clipped tone as she started gathering up her things.

When Scarlett saw April was about to leave her expression immediately turned from amused to remorseful. "Uh, hey...don't go. I'm sorry ok?" She almost sounded pleading as she put a hand on April's arm to make her stop, eyes widening sincerely as she finally focussed all her attention on the red head. "I'm sorry," she repeated earnestly, "I'm no good at this party shi... _stuff_ and I don't do lists or whatever very well. Can't you just make the decisions then give me a bunch of jobs to do or something?"

April hesitated then slowly sank back to her stool, "I guess," she acknowledged grudgingly, frown fading a little in the face of Scarlett's apology, "that's not really working together though. Don't you want to make some choices about food or music or..."

"Shhhhh!" Scarlett hissed and April immediately broke off, raising her eyebrows at the rude interruption. The younger girl ignored her annoyed expression and reached out to shove at the notepad so that it fell onto April's lap.

"Hey!" April protested, only just managing to catch the bundle of paper before it fell to the floor. Irritation rose anew and she huffed, "What's your problem now?"

" _Scarlett_!" Mikey appeared at the doorway and April started, her budding anger fleeing as quickly as it had risen as the terrapin suddenly filled the kitchen entrance. Her fingers tightened reflexively on the notepad now hidden on her lap and she cast Scarlett a look from the corner of her eye. The dark haired girl wasn't phased by the turtles appearance though, in fact she was smirking again as she gave him a cheeky look. Mikey glared at Scarlett in return, brow ridge lowered as he frowned at the younger girl, however April didn't fail to notice that the corner of his mouth was twitching suspiciously with what looked like the beginnings of a grin.

"Problem?" Scarlett said with mock sweetness as she fluttered her eyelashes.

Mikey stalked forward and slapped his t-phone down on the bench in front of her. "Stop resetting my ring tone, it's driving me bonkers!" He stepped back and pointed at the device with a commanding air. "Fix it _gaki_." Then he finally seemed to notice April, his face breaking into a wide smile as he beamed at her. "Hey April!"

"Hi Mikey." April gave him a small wave with the hand not holding the notepad.

"I thought you loved yodelling." Scarlett drew Mikey's attention back to herself, opening her eyes wide and pretending to be shocked at this new revelation as she scooped up the turtles phone to begin fiddling with the settings.

Mikey shook his head and rolled his eyes before turning to the fridge, "You _know_ I don't. Just like I don't like the polka music you put on it yesterday, or the boot scooting music you put on it the day before that." He turned back to the bench and pulled out a stool, a bottle of orange crush soda clutched in one fist. Glancing at April he asked. "You want?"

"No thanks." April murmured, attention captivated as she watched Scarlett undo whatever mischief she'd wrought on the terrapins phone with fingers that blurred they moved so fast.

When Scarlett's thumbs stilled over the screen of Mikey's t-phone April tilted her head curiously, alerted by the sudden tension that was running through the younger girl's body. She followed the brunette's amber gaze as it fixated on the bottle of orange crush Mikey was holding, wondering why the beverage was suddenly so interesting. As Mikey's overlarge fingers began to twist the small cap from the bottle the aura of expectation around Scarlett grew even stronger. With slow movements she brought the t-phone up to face the turtle while at the same time scooting to the edge of her seat as though getting ready to run. April blinked as she realised that the other girl had accessed the camera and was now filming Mikey with the device.

Frowning in confusion April just had time to draw the belated conclusion that something was about to go down when, with a quick twist of his wrist, Mikey removed the cap from his drink and things literally _erupted_. The turtle squarked in surprise as the fizzy contents shot out of the neck of the bottle in a fountain, the orange liquid almost reaching the ceiling before cascading back down to cover pretty much everything within a five foot radius. April and Scarlett scrambled out of range, managing to avoid the spray, but Mikey just gaped in shock as the bottle emptied its self all over him, eyes wide and large jaw dangling while drops of soft drink dripped off his chin and onto his plastron.

Within a few seconds it was over and silence fell on the kitchen. Then Scarlett let out a loud snort and Mikey slowly turned his incredulous gaze to her to find that she was grinning widely as she continued to film him. "Smile," she urged, "you've been pranked."

"You," Mikey sputtered as he tried to find his voice, "you...you _didn't_." His face went from shock to something between surprise and admiration. He brought one hand up to wipe his face then looked down at himself and the puddle he was standing in. The soda already drying into a sticky sheen on his green skin.

"Yeah I did _son_!" Scarlett crowed as she tilted her chin at him and smirked, "That's what you get for making me say 'bum nuggets' in front of the others. Mess with the leopard and you get the claws yo!" She drawled in a fairly impressive impersonation of the turtle before her, arms crossed over her chest and hip cocked. When Mikey growled at her theatrically she dropped the pose and let out a squeal of laughter. Gripping the t-phone tightly in one hand she leapt off her stool to flee the kitchen with the orange banded ninja hot on her heels.

"You better run!" Mikey yelled mock threateningly as he followed her, laughter already fringing the edges of his voice in response to her giggles. "When I get a hold of you..."

The commotion faded off leaving April standing alone in the kitchen staring at the sticky mess that was now covering the fridge, floor and part of the bench. Unsure what to do she was thankful when only a few seconds ticked past before Donny stepped into the room with a smile quirking his wide mouth. "So it worked then?" He asked with a glance over his shoulder towards the noise, cocking his eye ridge with a decidedly smug air.

April gaped at him, "You knew about this?" she gestured around at the various puddles with a flapping hand.

"Knew about it?" Donny laughed as he side stepped the mess and leant against a clean section of bench. "Who do you think showed her how to rig the Mentos using fishing wire so it would fall into the soda when he opened the bottle?" From the other room there was another loud shout of laughter followed by a crash and Donny's cocky grin faded a little. "Just...maybe don't mention that part to Master Splinter?" There was another crash. "And maybe don't mention it to Mikey either." He finished with a plaintive look and a worried air. "I really don't want him to know I helped her. Getting caught up in a prank war would not be conductive to my work right now. I really don't have the time."

April shook her head as she stuffed her notebook and pen into her backpack. "I won't, I have a feeling it will be better if we all stay clear of this one. In fact," She gave the mess in the kitchen one last look, "I might just head home to finish up my...uh...homework where it's a bit quieter."

"I'll walk you." Donatello offered immediately and April nodded before making her way with him to the lair exit.

They passed the pair of teens on their way out and April felt a reluctant smile tug at her lips when she saw that Mikey had caught up with Scarlett. He'd trapped her in his arms and was now proceeding to use her to bodily wipe the half dried soda from his shell and skin, laughing manically while she wriggled and squealed to get away, beating at him ineffectively with her fists as she gasped with laughter. Seeing Scarlett so care free really was a rare sight, mutation day plans could wait.

" _Akudo_." April murmered to herself with a grin and an eye roll before pushing her way through the turnstiles and out into the dark tunnels with Donny by her side.

* * *

 _gaki - brat_

 _akudo - brats_


	2. Alarmed

_Thanks for the reviews guys, hopefully you enjoy the next installment! Sadly I still don't own the turtles :(_

* * *

When the first alarm went off Donny was so deeply asleep that the blaring noise worked itself into his subconsciousness. The high pitched ' _beep beep beep_ ' slowly dragging him from slumber with images of malfunctioning Footbots clinging to the edges of his memory as he awoke. By the time he disentangled himself from the dream the loud beeping had stopped but Donny was already mostly awake, blinking up at the ceiling of his bedroom. What the heck had that been about? He turned his head to see what time it was, frown deepening when he realised his digital bedside clock was no longer there. "Huh...?" he mumbled groggily, lifting his head from the pillow. He reached out and fumbled around on his bedside table but his T-cell didn't seem to be there either. He'd definitely left it there when he came to bed. Something weird was going on.

Donny gave up his search when another round of beeping started up, this time faster and at a lower pitch. The brainy turtle levered himself up from his bed in response to the sound, one hand rubbing sleepily at his bare eyes he stumbled to his feet and shuffled across the dark bedroom. As soon as he opened the door not only did the beeping grow louder, but now he could hear someone grumbling. Donny leant against the doorframe, head sweeping up and down the corridor in sleepy confusion. His ears picked up a muffled _thud_ then this current round of beeping was also cut off and everything was silent again. A quick scan told him that his brothers doors were closed which probably meant they were still fast asleep, but Scarlett's bedroom door was wide open as usual, a habit she'd never changed in all the time she'd lived with them. He was fairly certain that the beeping and cursing had come from her end of the hall...

Sure enough just a few seconds later yet another alarm started to sound and this time Donny instantly recognised the familiar ' _blink blink blink, blink blink blink_ ' melody of his own personal T-cell wake up call. This was immediately followed by Scarlett's sleepy voice as she reacted to the noise with obvious irritation, louder now and cursing a blue streak that was certain to earn her a solid week's worth of backflips if Master Splinter heard her. Judging from the various thuds and rustling noises it sounded like she was in the process of turning her room upside down. Donny suppressed a smile as his sleep fog cleared and realisation dawned, this was Mikey exacting revenge for the mentos prank. His little brother had obviously stolen the T-cell from his nightstand, reprogrammed it then hidden it in Scarlett's room to wake her in the middle of the night as punishment.

Donatello shuffled his way down the hall as quietly as he could and when he reached the doorway to Scarlett's bedroom the fledgling grin grew to overtake his face when he saw the chaos that had erupted within the tiny space. Clothes were strewn across the floor along with a rumpled pile of bedclothes and pillows. The contents of her backpack were emptied out and mixed in together with her skateboard and small collection of shoes. Considering how little the kid owned it was amazing how much of a mess she'd managed to create.

Donny cleared his throat then barked in his most authoritative voice, "Do you have any idea what time it is young lady?"

Scarlett, who'd been searching under her bed for the blaring t-cell, let out a yelp then a loud curse when her cranium connected with the base of the bed. Scooting out backwards she swivelled on her knees to glare at Donny, clutching the phone in one hand while she rubbed at the bump on her head with the other. When he saw how rumpled and grumpy she looked he couldn't help chuckling.

"Laugh it up," she grumbled as she swiped on the phone, turned off the alarm, then threw the device onto the bed to join the missing bedside clock and what looked like Raph's iPod "I have no idea how many more of these Mikey has stashed in my room."

Right on cue another alarm began blaring with a loud " _blarp blarp blarp_ ". With a snarl Scarlett launched herself towards the sound, shoving Donny aside with one hand to find that her own t-phone had been gaffer taped to the back of her door and was bleeting away merrily. Donatello moved from the doorway to sit on her bed and watched with amusement while she ripped at the layers of tape, a snarl pulling her lips back from her teeth as she tried to free the device from the heavy wood. "C'mon you stupid piece of... _ah ha_!" With a few quick movements of her fingers the phone was silenced and she tossed it to land with the others on her mattress. In the silence that followed she and Donny strained their ears, if Mikey was...well, _Mikey_ , then another alarm was about to go off any second.

"What the shell are you two doin?" Raph's seething tone proceeded his appearance in the doorway and this time Donny jumped as well as Scarlett. "Do you have any idea what time it is? Some of us are trying to sleep..." the stocky turtle glared around the small room with bleary eyes then fixed his amber gaze on Scarlett "...why does your room look like a bomb hit it?"

"It's _Mikey_ ," Scarlett snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring right back, "he's hidden a bunch of alarms in my room and set them to go off randomly to keep me awake all night." When her discarded backpack began vibrating as it emitted a cheerful ' _bip bip bip bip bip bip_ ' she squinted at Raph while pointing at the offending item with an _I told you so_ look before picking her way through the mess in her room to snatch up the bag and begin searching through its zippered side pockets.

Raph watched as she pulled out an extremely battered looking t-cell from her backpack and his eyes narrowed. "Is that my phone?"

Scarlett shrugged, silencing it before tossing it to him. "Probably," she replied "and I'm pretty sure this is yours too." She plucked an iPod from the pile and handed it over.

Donny winced as Raph looked slowly between the two devices, realisation dawning on his older brother's face quickly followed by anger. Middle of the night pranks were not something Raph had much patience for let alone...

"That little shit went through my room." Raph snarled a second before he turned and stomped away.

Donny and Scarlett spared a glance for each other then scrambled after him, only stopping when they reached Mikey's bedroom door so they could watch as Raph flung it open and barged straight in. From the dark recess there came the sound of a scuffle punctuated by sleepy protests and one dull thud of flesh on flesh. "Stay outta my goddamn room Mikey," they heard the red banded turtle demanded threateningly. Seconds later Raph was back, pointing a threatening finger at the two of them as he added "and you two shut the hell up so I can sleep." Then he disappeared back into the darkness of his own room leaving them standing gaping at each other in the cold corridor.

"Night Raph." Mikey's voice called out on a groan and Scarlett clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified amusement replacing the irritation that had been there less than a minute ago.

"You ok in there Mikey?" Donny drawled with a whisper, only mildly concerned for his little brothers well being.

"Ugh, I got hit by the night train" the youngest turtle replied sleepily "toot toot."

Donny rolled his eyes, "I think he's fine," he said dryly "I'm going back to bed."

Scarlett nodded, "Me too I guess," she whispered "night Mikey," she called softly into the dark room of the orange banded turtle.

"G'night Scar," came the immediate answer followed by a slightly sheepish, "maybe check under your mattress before you go back to sleep ok?"


	3. Bullseye

"Hey Leo."

Leo looked up at the sound of his name then shot a glance at the microwave clock. "Hi Scarlett, what are you doing up?" He replied in surprise. It was at least an hour before the others were due to wake and she was usually the worst offender for sleeping in. In all the months she'd been living with them Leo had never known her to rise so early. In fact Mikey usually took it upon himself to drag her out of bed so she didn't miss breakfast.

"Couldn't sleep." Scarlett shrugged as she shuffled into the kitchen on bare feet. "I think Mikey has scarred me forever with his stupid alarm clock prank, I kept waking up at random times all night."

Leo grimaced. He'd missed the commotion the night before last somehow, managing to sleep through the entire thing which he found mildly embarrassing, but Donny had filled him in the next morning. "The rest of us learnt a long time ago not to get caught in a prank war with Mikey, you might want to think twice before retaliating." He suggested mildly.

Scarlett grunted non commitally but otherwise ignored his advice and Leo watched as she set about making herself breakfast. Her head was bare of it's usual black beanie so her hair fell over her shoulders in a dark wave, the overhead light picking out highlights amongst the long strands at they shifted and flowed in a way he found slightly mesmerising. He was still getting used to seeing so much of the stuff up close on a regular basis and he idly wondered for a moment if she'd let him touch it the way Mikey seemed to feel free to do constantly, then he shook his head at himself slightly as his cheeks coloured a little. Wanting to touch a girls hair, pffffft. Although...a different girl with darker hair floated through his mind and the colour in his cheeks deepened further.

Scarlett moved towards the fridge, lifting a hand to push the locks out of her face and as the long sleeve of her sweater fell back Leo caught a glimpse of something red on her fingers. Curiosity changed his train of thought. "What's that?" he asked, motioning to her hand when she frowned at him in confusion.

Scarlett glanced down then quickly pulled her hand back into her sleeve to hide it, muttering a quick curse under her breath. "Nothing," she replied quickly, turning her back to open the fridge and rifle through its contents. "Hey, so...um, I was wondering if I could use the bow and arrow today to do some target practice." Her voice was overly cheerful and slightly muffled by the door. She popped back into view holding a carton of orange juice to add, "You know, the ones with the suction cups on the end?"

Leo's eye ridges rose in surprise at the question. Scarlett had been practicing with real arrows for a while now and in all honesty was making great progress with them. The kid had a natural aptitude with projectile weapons and it would be a step back for her to digress to using the smaller bows. Leo watched Scarlett thoughtfully while she retrieved a glass from the cupboard then made herself comfortable across the bench from him. He waited until she seated before asking carefully, "Why would you want to do that?"

"I was thinking I might try and get some practice in with moving targets today." Her eyes twinkled at him over the rim of her glass of juice.

Moving target, Leo mused to himself. Not a bad idea, but usually when they were practicing in this way Master Splinter had them shooting at each other during sparring sessions. As far as he knew his father didn't have anything like that planned for today...

"Morning!" Mikey greeted them cheerfully as he sauntered into the kitchen. Leo gave his brother a nod and a smile as the orange banded turtle began rattling off a rather one sided conversation aimed at the contents of the fridge and cupboards as he pulled out that mornings breakfast ingredients. "Dudes I am so hungry this morning I think I could even eat the mystery pizza under my bed. I even dreamed about eating fungus last night, y'know, the kind that _moves_ , and I wasn't even grossed out. Oh! And then I had a dream that all the pizza in New York came alive and turned everyone into zombies and I had to eat you guys free which totally sounds amazing right now I can tell you. So much pizza, maybe breakfast pizza is a thing I can make this morning since I'm obviously craving it subconsciously...actually nah, that takes too long, I need food stat. My stomach thinks I've abandoned it or something..."

Leo wasn't paying attention. The second Mikey had turned his back to them his eyeridges had shot up in surprise and he'd ceased listening to the long winded ramble. Scrawled onto his brothers shell was a giant red bullseye. It took up all of the available space Mikey's carapace had to offer and looked like it had been done with a thick marker. He gaped at it for a second before remembering the flash of red he'd spotted on on Scarlett's hand and he switched his gaze to her. She met his stare evenly and asked quietly, "So, can I?"

Only a second passed before his lips twitched in a smile and he gave a slight nod, motioning towards the dojo where the set of bows and arrows was kept in a wicker basket with the rest of the practice weapons. Scarlett grinned and quietly slid off her stool to creep out of the kitchen without Mikey noticing, utilising the same stealth that had allowed her to sneak into Mikey's room in the middle of the night and paint a target on his shell without him waking.

Maybe this prank war wasn't such a terrible thing after all...

* * *

"Five points if you can score a hit from the top of the spiral staircase within ten seconds of him being in the room." Raph offered the challenge and Scarlett nodded her acceptance, slipping off the lounge and scooping up the bow and arrows before trotting away. "She's a great shot." He noted casually to Leo, one arm slung up over the back of the bench while the other loosely held the t.v. remote.

"Uh huh," Leo agreed. He and Raph had spent the better part of the day challenging Scarlett to more and more difficult shots at Mikey's shell and, while their little brother was getting increasingly annoyed with each attempt, he hadn't realised yet that he literally had a target painted on his back which was prompting the attacks. Scarlett was also incredibly good at remaining hidden so most times the added confusion of the situation just added to the entertainment. Leo and Raph were enjoying the whole thing immensely, continually contriving to lure Mikey out into the open so that Scarlett could take shots at him. A task that was getting more difficult as their brothers patience for the one sided game ran out.

Raph waited until Scarlett was in position then hollered "Mikey!" At the top of his lungs. A few seconds later and the orange banded turtle stuck his head out of Donny's lab.

"Yeah?" he asked, suspicion radiating from every pore.

"Wanna watch an episode of Robo Force?" Raph offered casually.

Mikey's eyes darted around the room before landing back on his brother. "Where's Scarlett?"

"I dunno, hanging around somewhere," Raph replied with deliberate impatience, "are coming to watch or not? I wanna see that episode you've been yapping about and I ain't waiting all day for you numb nuts."

Raph stabbed the remote at the t.v. indifferently and Mikey perked up at the sound of the opening theme music. He'd been begging his older brother to watch this particular episode with him for weeks so the lure to step into the open was strong. He took one hesitant step into the lair then looked around again furtively. "Are you sure she's not here? My nerves are completely shot dude, I can't take much more of her sneak attacks."

"Whatever." Raph shrugged and turned up the sound, ignoring the way his younger brothers eyes widened, glimmering with sadness as he stayed hovering in Donny's doorway.

"C'mon Mikey," Leo called out soothingly "just a few steps and you'll be safe again ere with us." From the corner of his eye he caught the tiniest shift of movement from the top of the spiral staircase and he made sure to keep his face smooth, eyes trained on his brothers face.

"Ok," Mikey said reluctantly, lured by the sounds of his favourite t.v. show. As soon as his brother stepped into the room Leo began a silent countdown in his head. Ten, nine,eight...

Mikey had barely made it halfway to the couch when there was a _shhhhhhhhhhhht **thunk**_ as an arrow slammed into his carapace. Even though he was more than half expecting it Mikey let out a yelp and jumped at the impact. As he whirled about to see where the projectile had come from Raph got a look at it's placement on the bullseye and let out a low whistle. "Direct hit, nice one."

"You...guys... _suck_..." Mikey grunted with effort as he twisted his arms behind him to try and reach the arrow. Leo and Raph broke into peals of laughter at his futile graspings. Giving up he huffed and stalked away, arrow protruding from the direct centre of his shell and waving gently with his movement as he made his way to his room in a grump. _Shhhhhhhht_ _**thunk**_. A second arrow joined the first causing him to whirl on the spot and shake a fist at the room in general. " _Scarlett_!" When he still couldn't spot where the girl was hiding he huffed again and took off towards his bedroom at a significantly faster pace.

"Classic." Raph grinned as he wiped an actual tear of mirth from one eye. "So much for Dr Prankenstein, you got him on the run kid."

"You really do have a knack for hitting targets." Leo said to Scarlett as she dropped down from the staircase. She shot him a grin and dropped the bundle of arrows back to the floor so she could sprawl on the couch. "I am kinda worried about what revenge Mikey is planning though, he's probably in his room right now plotting you know."

"Eh," Scarlett shrugged her shoulders dismissively "whatever it is I can take it."

"Mmm hmmm." Leo murmured and slid a sideways look at Raph who just shook his head before turning back to the t.v.


	4. Drumsticks

_Thanks so much for the reviews on the last three instalments of this series. I'm stoked that you guys are enjoying the shenanigans! I'd been so caught up with 'Rats and Men' that I let my updates on this one slip so thought it was about time I remedied that :)_

 _Anyway I'm trying to write each one shot from a different person's perspective which, as you know, I really enjoy doing. For this series it lets us get a view on everyone else's reactions to, and thoughts about, the prank war._ _This time it's Splinters turn to get caught up in the silliness (just a teeny touch)._

 _Hope you like it!_

 _Remember all these are set **before** Rats and Men :)_

* * *

"Where are they?"

Master Splinter paused, hands tucked into the sleeves of his robe against the mild chill in the lair. With a barely perceptible twitch of his whiskers and lift of his chin he scented the air to find that the large room was seemingly empty, yet at the same time his sensitive ears picked up a rustle of movement from further back. He turned his head slightly towards the noise and listened harder.

"Where _are_ they?" Came the mutter once again accompanied by a thudding scrape and faint _shing_ of tempered metal.

Ah, Scarlett. Her scent masked by that ingenious bracelet Donatello had designed for her.

The turtles sensei allowed his brows to furrow as the the girl's name shifted through his mind, swiftly followed by a realisation of what she must be doing.

When his second eldest son had gifted the youngster with his drum kit some months ago it had quickly become apparent that parameters needed to be established around the 'instruments' use. Her passion for creating mind numbing noise with the contraption had the potential to bring further disruption to a household already on the continual brink of young blooded chaos. After a slightly rocky start an agreement had been settled upon, she would limit her practice to a time when fewer ears were around to be assaulted. Leonardo and Donatello in particular had no fondness for the excess of sound so would retreat to their quarters. Raphael and Michelangelo, however, didn't seem to be bothered by it and could often be found nearby. Splinter scanned the lair, not today apparently.

Another clatter sounded, this time accentuated by a low curse.

Splinter flattened his ears against his head, it appeared that his emergence from his quarters was ill timed on his part. Deciding to ignore the expletive for serenities sake he continued on his way to the kitchen with the intension of boiling water to take straight back to his room. Perhaps it would be wise to ask Donatello to install the appropriate facilities in his quarters and thus eliminate the need to traverse the lair several times per day. _Or perhaps not_ , he mused, _it may not be wise to withdraw himself any further from the life of the lair._

Before the kettle had finished its task he heard Scarlett approaching the kitchen with a heavy tread. The child was exceptionally skilled at masking her movements almost completely when she wished. The fact that she was now stomping indicated her temper was riled once again and he sighed inwardly. It would seem he had not been swift enough in his quest for hot tea and would now pay the price in excessive teen temperament.

"Oh, hi Master Splinter." She seemed startled as she rounded the corner into the kitchen which told him she'd neglected to assess her surroundings as she moved through the lair. Something he would chide his sons for but chose to let go with his youngest student. Her heightened sense of smell and the fact he was making no effort to mask his presence should have meant she knew he was there before she saw him.

"Hello Scarlett," Splinter inclined his head politely, "how are you?" He suspected he already knew the answer but was driven to ask regardless.

Immediately a frown replaced her surprised expression and her eyes darkened with irritation. "Someone's been messing with the drum kit," she grumbled, confirming his suspicions, "I can't find my sticks anywhere and I know I left them on the snare. I checked everywhere, they've disappeared and my practice time is running out. Leo and the guys will be back from their dump run soon and I promised I'd only play while they were gone and you were meditating in your room," she shot him a quick look, "which you aren't doing anymore. I guess that's it for today anyway." she finished with a defeated slump of her shoulders.

Crossing to the cupboard she reached up to retrieve a glass and as she closed the small door again she paused, spine stiffening slightly before she whirled around with eyes narrowed. "You didn't take them did you...sensei?"

The honorific title was tacked on to the end of her bald accusation and he raised an eyebrow slightly. "While I confess to having no love for your instrument of choice, it would be wrong of me to hamper you in such a way." Splinter murmured reprovingly, "I am disappointed to hear that you would see me in this light."

His words had the desired effect, a flush stained her cheeks and she dropped her eyes contritely. "Sorry," she mumbled "it's just...I know you don't like it when I play, even though you're too polite to say so. I love it though because..." she trailed off uncomfortably and shrugged, studying the glass in her hand as though it was incredibly fascinating all of a sudden.

"Yes?" he tilted his head in question at her unfinished sentence, curious to hear the end of it. It wasn't often they spoke thus and he found himself wanting to get to know the girl even just a little better.

"I...uh...it's fun." She said lamely and he cleared his throat pointedly. Her mouth quirked to the side and she reached a hand up to rub at the back of her neck, "Ok, I guess I like it because I can use it to get rid of all this stuff inside me that keeps building...like feelings," she flushed, "or whatever." She winced "That sounded really lame."

"Not at all," Splinter smiled at her, "a creative outlet is a wonderful thing and unique to each of us. I'm glad you have the opportunity to indulge."

"Yeah well, not today." Scarlett rolled her eyes as she turned to the fridge, "I can't exactly play without my sticks and I have no idea..."

She cut off as the door of the fridge swung open and her eye immediately caught on something inside. Splinter watched in fascination as her jaw dropped, "What the _fffffffffffffffff_...?" she hissed on the precipice of a curse and once again the mutant rat bit his tongue on a sharp reprimand. _Small steps of improvement,_ he reminded himself, _she didn't actually give voice to the offensive word._

Instead he remained silent as she disappeared from view, seconds later re-emerging from the depths of the fridge holding a clear rectangular container which seemed to be housing a large amount of orange jelly. He watched with growing curiosity as Scarlett transferred the container to the bench then stared down into it with a steadily deepening glower until she looked ready to murder the gelatinous contents.

Splinter found himself at a loss to understand why the substance was causing the girl such offence and so crossed to her side so he too could look down into it's depths. Straight away he was once again reining in his reaction, but this time it was mirth that threatened his composure.

"Not funny."

He shifted his gaze to Scarlett who was now glaring up at him, amber eyes lit from within by barely contained fury, and he realised he must have let some small noise escape. He cleared his throat and murmured, "Indeed" as stoically as he could manage.

Pacified by his response Scarlett returned to glowering at the jelly, after a moment huffing as she pushed one sleeve of her grey sweater to her elbow like someone about to plunge their arm into a bath rather than a shallow dish. The grimace of disgust that pulled at her mouth almost had his lips twitching with renewed humour.

A moment later she had retrieved her drumsticks from the bottom of the jelly and she held them aloft as globs of orange splatted back into the container. With tentative movements she shook off as much of the gelatinous treat as she could then crossed to the sink to rinse away the rest under the tap.

"Now they're _orange_." Task complete she turned back with a wet length of wood clutched in each hand and he saw that they were indeed now orange, the pale wood stained by the colouring of the jelly. The pure incredulousness on her face as she stared down at them nearly undid him.

His inner struggle went unnoticed by the girl, instead her expression once again turned thunderous.

"He's _**dead**_." Scarlett fumed, clutching the stained sticks in a tight fist as she stormed out of the kitchen, leaving her sensei in no doubt as to who she was referring to.

 _Perhaps I have been somewhat neglectful_ , Splinter thought to himself as the clomping footsteps faded and he recovered enough to pour his hot water into the waiting teapot. _It seems no one has cautioned the girl not to become entangled in a battle of pranks with Michelangelo. A most unfair competition considering his dedicated years of practice._

A small smile tugged at his whiskers as he made his way back to the quiet of his quarters. _Then again, perhaps it is a lesson best learned on one's own._


	5. Showers

_Hey ya'll! Once again, thanks for the reviews last chapter. You guys are the best :)_

 _I tried to sit on this update for a while to let the anticipation build but damn it I really want to share it with you all! People were wondering how Scarlett was going to get Mikey back for the drumstick prank and I hope I don't disappoint._

 _Raph's turn to get caught up in the prank war!_ _Now, I realised yesterday that this chapter has a few strong similarities to my last chapter of 'Neko'. As in 'Raph gets mad at Scarlett'. Just happenstance I swear, I actually had the bones of this chapter written months ago. So please keep in mind this one shot takes place_ **weeks** _before the chapter 'Fevered' where Raph is angry at Scar on a whole different level._

 _Oh, and I don't own TMNT either :(_

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For once Raph beat Mikey to the shower after training. Typically his little brother raced ahead and hogged the bathroom but today, with a well placed elbow to the plastron which'd left the pain-in-his-shell groaning on the carpet, Raph had ensured that he made it out the dojo door first. Now the red banded turtle had a full tank of steaming hot water at his disposal and he didn't plan on wasting a single drop.

Locking the bathroom door behind him to stop his other brothers from busting in Raph quickly shed his gear and left it in an untidy jumble in the corner. Then he stepped into the shower stall and cranked both of the taps on full, a small smile of anticipation already on his face. This was gonna be _sweet_.

He braced one hand on the tiles in front of him and bowed his head in readiness for the first cold needles of water that would quickly turn scalding, taking a long, deep breath...

...nothing...

The red banded turtle frowned, twisted the hot water faucet further around and waited again...

...still nothing...

His teeth gritted in irritation, fist clenching then coming up to pound the tiles over the pipes in the hope that would fix things. A weird gurgling sound rattled from the showerhead and his eye ridges rose a little in expectation.

The gurgle faded back into silence.

With a cry of anger he struck the tiles again. Somewhere in the back of his head he could hear Donny calling him a neanderthal but right now he couldn't give a shit. He wanted his hot shower god damn it!

The heavy blow he'd just delivered to the pipes resulted in the gurgling noise making a return. It increased in volume just a little, but then faded away. Worse yet, nothing actually came out of the damn nozzle.

"Ah _great_ ," Raph groused angrily "the one time I get to the shower first in months and the damn thing is broken."

He was just reaching out to turn the faucet off again so he could go get the tool box and fix whatever new problem had risen to plague the old bathroom, when the shower head inexplicably came back to life and gave a hiss. A dribble of orange water fell to the floor tiles and Raph watched as it splatted near his foot then made its way slowly to the drain.

"What the..."

Before he could finish his question the hiss morphed into a low grumbling as whatever had been blocking the flow of water gave way abruptly. He looked towards the nozzle in horror just in time to receive a pressurised blast of hot orange liquid to the face.

Raph let out a shout of surprise and immediately his open mouth filled with the stuff. It was surprisingly sweet on his tongue which just managed to gross him out completely. Spluttering and coughing he tried to block the nozzle with his hand but only succeeded in knocking the spout from it's cradle so that it fell to the floor and began writhing around like a demented silver snake. All the while it spewed out sticky orange water, spraying the stuff around the bathroom in giant arcs.

By the time Raph managed to fumble his way to turning the taps off again the whole room was coated in orange. It streaked down each wall and clung to the toilet, mirror and sink in brightly coloured streaks. Even the stack of towels in the corner hadn't escaped, soaked through in a soggy pile.

Looking down at himself Raph blinked a few times then wiped at his plastron with one hand. His fingers caught slightly in the sticky liquid and he grimaced before eyeing the shower nozzle which now lay limp on the tiled floor. Using it to wash this stuff back off himself was obviously out of the question, he was going to need fresh water for that.

Tentatively he held his fingers to his nose and sniffed...was that... _jelly_? Someone had unscrewed the shower nozzle and filled the entire hose with jelly crystals.

Still slightly dazed by the inexplicable attack he slowly stepped back out of the shower recess. He gave a grimace. The orange mess of liquified jelly was drying on his skin and certain parts of him were starting to feel decidedly weird and uncomfortable.

It wasn't until he spotted his gear lying in a shallow pool of sticky water that the anger rose to replace the confusion. His leather belts were on the verge of being ruined and his mask was going to need a wash. As he started seething two faces popped into his head and he knew exactly who was responsible for this. _Those god damned brats and their stupid prank war._

Less than thirty seconds later he was storming his way into the main room of the lair, completely uncaring of the fact he was minus his pads, belts, weapons or bandana which essentially rendered him just about as naked as he could get. The only thought in his head was getting his hands on the ones responsible for his current condition.

Almost immediately he spotted the guilty pair standing clustered around one of the arcade games near the turnstiles, heads close as they fixated on the screen and so far oblivious to his presence. Not for long.

" _Which one of you punks is responsible for this?_ "

Scarlett and Mikey looked away from the pinball machine with startled expressions. While Mikey just looked shocked Scarlett's expression quickly turned horrified.

"Oh _shit_."

His gaze locked on Scarlett when the expletive slipped from her mouth. She was regarding him with wide eyes, jaw dangling as her eyes darted around his body, taking in the orange smears covering him from head to toe. When he saw her expression and found guilt mixed in there with the horror he zeroed in on her with deadly intent.

"You." He growled and she took a few steps back as he bore down on her.

Mikey's shock faded quickly. He took one look at his older brother as he approached, a dripping trail of orange water spreading across the floor in his wake, and a bray of mirth exploded out of him. "Dude, you're orange! That colour totally suits you!" He clutched a hand to his heart over his plastron as he simpered, " _Awwwwww_. if you wanted to be more like me you should've just said so!"

"Shut up Mikey." Raph warned.

A massive shit eating grin split his freckled face in half, unbridled glee making his whole body vibrate, "Ooh, ooh! I have a spare bandana you could wear and my old nunchucks are in the dojo." He gasped loudly, "We can be _twins_! This is so awesome!"

"I said shut up," Raph snarled, giving his brother a hard shove on the way past without sparing him a glance. His stare didn't leave Scarlett as she continued to back away and he followed, stalking her with shoulders hunched, hands clenching and unclenching mid air as though he was already strangling her.

" _I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry_!" Scarlett was back pedalling faster now, hands held out in front to ward him off as she tried to escape. "That wasn't meant for you, I was trying to get... _eep_!"

She turned on her heel and tried to make a run for it but it was no good. Raph lunged forward to snare her by the back of her hood and she came to an abrupt halt with a choked off grunt. Pulling her close then hauling her off her feet with an arm around her waist, he manhandled her so that she was tucked under his arm. Then he turned and strode towards the pool off to the side of the lounge pit.

When she saw where he was taking her she let out a loud scream, arms and legs flailing. "No Raph! _No_! I'm sorry ok? I'll fix it I swear!"

He ignored her and kept going, mentally preparing himself for what he knew was going to be a massive shock of cold water.

" _ **Mikey**_!" Scarlett shrieked and he winced as the sound almost punctured his ear drum. She was getting harder to hold onto as she writhed so he tightened his grip around her waist until the breath squeezed out of her and she wheezed.

"Sorry Scar," Mikey called out behind them in a disgustingly chipper voice, "seems to me like you brought this on yourself!"

Raph came to a stop at the edge of the pool and braced himself. Scarlett renewed her struggles when she looked down into the water, desperation edging her voice as she protested breathily. "I can't swim! I can't swim and it's freezing! Raph, c'mon, _please_! _Nononononononononononono_!"

When the frigid water his hit skin he felt every fibre of his being clench in shock. Scarlett was right, the water was only a degree or two above freezing. Once they were both submerged he finally let her go and opened his eyes under the water to watch her try to claw her way back to the surface amidst a cloud of bubbles.

 _Wow, she really can't swim_ he thought to himself as he watched her struggle for a second then he took pity on her and came up beside her so she could cling to him. Together they broke the surface and he tolerated it when she completely wrapped herself around him from behind, panting harshly in his ear with panicked little gasps. Her arms encircled his neck so tightly she threatened to cut off his air supply, her legs clamping tightly around his shell and waist made him feel like he was being attacked by a terrified octopus. Despite all this he still rolled his eyes as he trod water lazily, easily compensating for her slight weight as he kept both their heads above water.

"Y-y-y-you jerk." Her teeth chattered violently. She let go with one hand to push the sodden hair from her face then immediately returned the limb to hold onto him again.

" _I'm_ the jerk?" Raph's voice rose questioningly, "I'm not the one putting jelly crystals into showerheads..." He stopped treading water and allowed himself to slip underwater, grinning when she let out another scream just before they were submerged fully once more.

When they broke the surface again she coughed out water, "Raph," she said in a small voice, "I already said I'm sorry. Please let me out."

Against his shell her entire body trembled as she was wracked with shivers and he relented, sculling to the side of the pool so she could grasp the edge and haul herself out. Immediately she launched herself off his shell and scrambled up onto dry land in an untidy tangle of waterlogged limbs. She was helped to her feet by Mikey who had come over to lend a hand, an amused smirk still twisting his lips.

Raph followed, exiting the pool with deliberate grace while refusing to show any sign that he was cold in the slightest. As he regained his feet he scowled at her where she stood gasping and shivering under Mikey's arm. She looked so pathetic as she gazed up at him through a tangle of dark wet hair, arms wrapped around herself as her teeth chattered, that he huffed in resignation. Stepping over he flanked her other side, throwing his own arm around her and shielding her a little from the cool air of the lair.

"Prank wars are a dangerous thing." He muttered at Scarlett then narrowed his eyes at Mikey over the top of her head. "You might want to put a bit more thought into your planning phase and possible repercussions."

His little brother just grinned and shrugged unrepentantly. "Didn't seem so bad to me. But then my pranks have never backfired quite so spectacularly as yours just did. _Hashtag prank fail_." Mikey drawled then let loose a small shriek when Scar pinched the skin on the underside of his bicep. "Ok, ok. Cut it out, your fingers are freezing!"

"You're jerks and I hate both of you." Scarlett said as regally as she could with a clenched jaw. Shaking the brothers off she stalked away in the direction of the bathroom, sodden jeans clinging to her legs and feet squelching loudly in her shoes.

"Awwww Scar, where you goin?" Mikey called out teasingly, "I thought we were gonna finish our game of Packman!"

"Get bent freckle fart!" Came the rude reply and Mikey cackled so hard he snorted.

"You two are a pair of idiots." Raph scoffed as he scraped water off his face with his palm, but any heat from his tone was gone, temper chilled effectively by the cold dip. "Go help her clean up the bathroom numb nuts."

Another smirk and Mikey did as he was told, following his friend in the direction of the shower. Raph allowed himself a grin as he imagined their reaction when they saw just how much of a mess had been made in there and was rewarded a moment later when Scarlett let out a loud howl.

"Jeeeezuz Raph, there's even jelly in the _hallway_."

"Suck it up princess!" He hollered back before sauntering off to find a towel, feeling surprisingly refreshed after his dip.

* * *

 _Man I laughed out loud writing so many parts of this story. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Review please!_

 _And the sad news is that its report writing time once again so I will be super busy for a few weeks. Hopefully I still get a lot of time to write and it won't disrupt my updates :)_


	6. Air Horn

_A big welcome to my sister Kathymartin14 who has joined the Fanfiction community just to read my story and be my beta reader. She is a writer as well and has an amazing original work of her own in progress. I can't thank her enough for doing this for me considering the fact she is very busy plus she isn't a TMNT fan (hoping to change that!)._

 _Anyway, hope you enjoy the next chapter. It's Casey's turn to get caught up in the prank war..._

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing :)_

* * *

"Man, I am so sick of all this sitting around you guys have been doing lately. When are we gonna go topside where the action is?" Casey groaned as he flung himself down next to Raph on the couch. The red-banded turtle gave a grunt as the teen jostled him but otherwise didn't take his eyes off the TV. "I need to do something. Don't you guys want to _do_ something?"

"We _are_ doing something Jones," Raph reached out to shove at Casey's shoulder and glared pointedly at the screen. "So how about you shut yer yap? If you're really that bored you're more than welcome to go topside to freeze your balls off. The rest of us are busy."

Casey glanced incredulously towards the TV where an old episode of some stupid sci-fi show was playing then raised his eyebrows at Raph who had already gone back to pointedly ignoring him. "Busy? Busy! _Gah_!"

"Besides Casey, there is no action up there," Leo added mildly before smothering a yawn with his hand. "Donny has been monitoring Foot and Dragon activity by hacking into the surveillance cameras all around the city. Nothing significant going on. If there was we'd be on it, trust me." The turtle sunk himself a little deeper into his beanbag and closed his eyes, arms crossed loosely over his plastron.

"Something has to be happening in this city," Casey insisted hotly as he shifted to the edge of his seat. "Crime doesn't just take a break because it's cold. That's dumb."

"You're dumb." Donny muttered from his position on the other side of Raph. He was lying on his stomach with one hand propping up his chin while he clicked half-heartedly at his laptop, brown eyes hooded as they shot Casey a dismissive look.

Casey jumped to his feet, flinging an arm out to point at the purple-banded turtle. "See? Even Donny's insults are lazy. You guys are _so_. _Freakin_ '. _Boring_!" He flailed his arms in the air in frustration, "BORING!"

Three deadpan faces stared back at him, utterly unfazed by his outburst. After a second Casey huffed and let his hands fall back to his sides. Leo shook his head and closed his eyes again while his brothers went back to their screens.

"I'm going to find Mikey," the lanky teen muttered."Even Scarlett would be more interesting than you guys right now."

"Knock yourself out," came the muttered reply and Casey gritted his teeth as he stalked away.

As he left the radius of blaring TV noise, the sound of wheels on wood caught his ears instead and he headed in that direction. Seconds later he came upon the two teenagers who were hanging out on the half pipe that was tucked away at the rear of the lair. Casey slouched his way towards them with his hands shoved into his pockets.

Mikey looked up as he approached, surprise flashing across his face as he acknowledged the human with a half wave. "Hey Casey."

"Hi Mikey."

The youngest turtle was sitting off to one side of the small ramp so that he was right by the lowest point of it. Cross-legged he went back to watching Scarlett as she skated back and forth, back and forth. His head swivelled to and fro with her movements and Casey found himself doing the same as he flopped down next to him.

A few moments later Scarlett completed her run and dismounted at the top of the pipe on the narrow platform built there, trapping the small orange skateboard under her foot while tucking her dark fringe back up under her black beanie so it was out of her eyes. Despite the cool air in the lair she'd taken off her red flannel shirt and tied it around her waist so that all she wore was a black t-shirt and her ripped jeans.

When Scarlett spotted Casey sitting next to Mikey she rolled her eyes but refrained from saying anything. He shot her a return grimace. She didn't own the lair; he could sit wherever he wanted. She caught his expression and smirked, cocking an eyebrow as she repositioned her board and flipped him off at the same time. Then she lazily dropped back into the pipe to continue her pointless journey up and down the small curved ramp.

"What's happening man?" Mikey asked, watching Scarlett as she came off the top of the far side of the pipe, bent her knees and grabbed the middle of her board to complete a 180 turn mid-air before landing smoothly again. A little smile tugged at the turtle's mouth as she completed the simple looking trick.

"Nothing at all," Casey grumbled, propping his chin on his fist. "That's the problem. No one wants to do anything around here. You guys are so quiet at the moment, it's weird."

"Hibernation dude," Mikey said with a small laugh, shooting him an amused look.

Casey frowned, "What?"

"Hi-ber- _na_ -tion," Mikey drawled the word out, adopting a superior look that reminded Casey of Donny and immediately made him want to slap the guy. "Winter equals sleepy time for turtles. My bros barely have enough energy for training let alone patrols. You're gonna have to wait until Spring for them to start getting active again. Sorry," he finished with a shrug of his freckled green shoulders.

"Oh." Casey mulled this over for a moment. "So how come you aren't slothing then?" he asked with a frown. Mikey made a 'dunno' face then went back to watching Scarlett as she skated.

"Just doesn't bother me as much I guess," he said dismissively then paused as he seemed to think of something. His wide mouth curved into a wicked grin and he shot Casey a sly look from the corner of his eye as he lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "But I do have an idea that might liven things up a bit."

Casey cocked his head curiously as the turtle retrieved something from his belt. He caught a brief flash of something red and white before Mikey palmed the object and it was swallowed in the guy's huge hand.

"What's that?" he asked, his interest peaked. The turtles had a whole heap of fascinating gadgets stashed away in their utility belts. Smoke pellets, ninja stars, small flash bombs. Casey loved a good homemade weapon and had a keen interest in getting a closer look at the different devices that Donny seemed to be constantly cooking up for his brothers in his spare time.

Mikey immediately held a finger to his mouth, silently shushing Casey who obediently snapped his mouth shut. Both boys cast a furtive look at Scarlett and, once they were sure she wasn't paying them any mind, Mikey slowly unfurled his fist to reveal a small canister with a red plastic horn on the top. Along the side of the device the words 'AIR HORN' were written in bold, capital letters.

Casey felt his eyes widen and a grin twitch at his lips as he realised what Mikey was up to. Raph and April had both mentioned on separate occasions that Mikey and Scarlett were embroiled in some kind of prank war over the last few weeks. It seemed as though he'd managed to arrive at the perfect time to witness one of the pranks first hand. He almost squirmed with suppressed glee as Mikey once again palmed the canister, this time positioning his large thumb on the top of it ready to push down then letting his hand dangle casually across his lap.

Now the boys both returned their attention to Scarlett who was once again standing on the platform as she re-tucked her hair into her beanie with an irritated huff at the wayward strands. Her cheeks were flushed as she turned her head to look down at them, feral yellow eyes squinting at Casey as if annoyed to still see him there before softening as they moved to Mikey.

"You want a turn yet?" she asked, using her foot to roll the board in their direction.

"Nah, you keep going," Mikey replied casually then shot Casey a grin when she shrugged and launched off the lip again. He brought the canister up, eyes carefully tracking Scarlett's trajectory and waiting until she was airborne off the other side of the ramp before holding out the air horn towards her and pressing down hard on the button...

 _BAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!_

Even though Casey had been expecting it, the sheer volume of noise that the air horn emitted caused him to jump reflexively and clap his hands over his ears. For such a small device it delivered a serious auditory punch.

The instant the piercing noise burst forth Scarlett let out a startled cry as she jerked upright and windmilled her arms. The second her centre of gravity shifted she lost her balance on the board and fumbled her landing. A hard thump sounded when she hit the ramp with both knees then tumbled down the slope to land in an untidy tangle at the bottom. The orange board she'd been riding shot away to crash into the wall a good ten paces away.

Back in the lounge pit there was a chorus of exclamations and when Casey glanced that way he saw that the other three brothers weren't looking so sleepy anymore. Raph and Donny were on their feet, weapons drawn as they stared wildly around the lair as if trying to discern where the explosive noise had come from. Leo hadn't managed to get to his feet as quickly, instead he was flailing as he tried to get up from the beanbag. Casey broke into cackles of laughter at the sight of the fearless leader's green limbs thrashing around gracelessly. Raph looked over at the sound and frowned angrily. "Will you three shut the hell up?" he ordered loudly from across the room before slumping back onto the couch. Donny and Leo gave identical eye rolls before they too subsided.

"Ow, my fucking _ears_!"

Casey whipped his head back towards Scarlett and laughed even harder when he saw her clutching at her head as she sat up groaning. Her beanie had flown off which meant she was glaring angrily through a wild mess of dark tangled hair at Mikey who was also giggling uncontrollably. When she caught sight of the canister in his hands that he was no longer making any effort to hide, her eyes widened with fury.

"An air horn? You just about punctured my eardrums with an _air horn_? You're such an asshole! My ears are ringing so bad!" She dug a finger into her ear and wriggled it around, opening her mouth wide in an effort to pop her eardrums.

"Oh man, you should've seen your dismount, I wish I'd been filming it!" Mikey sniggered without even a hint of remorse, the hand not holding the canister reaching out to give her the 'okay' signal. "Judges give it a perfect ten."

Casey was running out of breath, he leant against Mikey's shoulder as he gasped for air and blinked tears of laughter out of his eyes. "So...f-f-freakin' graceful," he managed to get out between wheezes.

Scarlett let out an angry hiss as she stood, baring her teeth and taking a threatening step towards them. Immediately Mikey hurried to get to his feet too.

"C'mon Scar, prank for prank. You know the drill." Even though he held his hands out in a placating way towards his friend, the orange-banded turtle wasn't able to keep the amusement out of his tone and Casey felt a thrill of danger run through him when Scarlett narrowed her eyes.

"My last prank didn't even work!" she seethed.

Mikey shrugged, "You know what they say, it's the thought that counts." He tapped a finger against his chinas his shit-eating grin grew even wider. "Or maybe that should be, if you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen."

Casey took an involuntary step back and to the side as Scarlett's eyes just about popped out of her head and her jaw visibly clenched. This was getting a bit too heavy for him, moving out of the line of fire seemed like a good idea right about now. As surreptitiously as possible he started backing up, making his way stealthily to the lounge pit and the relative safety of the other turtles.

Scarlett ignored his retreat and instead focussed on Mikey. "I'm gonna ram that bloody thing down your throat!" Even through gritted teeth her voice managed to raise the hairs along Casey's arms. "Give it to me!"

The grin on Mikey's face wavered a little as she drew closer and he got a better look at the murderous glint in her eye. He held out the air horn to wave it at her, thumb poised over the pressure switch threateningly. "Don't come any closer Scarlett or I'll... _gahhhhh_!"

 _BAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!_

Scarlett had made a lunge for the small canister and the startling speed with which she'd moved had caused Mikey to reflexively press down on the horn as he tried to jerk it back from her grasp. The blast of sound went off close to her face and she cried out, slapping her hands over her ears again as she cringed away.

" _OW_!"

This time when she lowered her hands her expression was pure fury.

"You're _dead_ Michelangelo!"

"It was an accident!" Mikey hollered as he spun on his heel to make a run for it and Casey noted wryly that there was still a trace of laughter in the turtle's voice. In fact his mouth was once again stretched into a wide grin as he sprinted towards the lounge pit where his other brothers were watching the whole thing play out with irritated expressions. "Guys help! She's after me!"

"I hope she beats your stupid ass, you moron," Raphcalled out gruffly as the pair blew past, then he shot a look at Leo and Donny. "This is starting to get out of hand."

"Uh huh," Leo muttered, watching as Mikey tried to scramble over the turnstiles to escape into the sewer tunnels only to be brought up short when Scarlett caught him by the foot and sent him crashing to the ground out of view. She leapt after him, the sounds of a scuffle drifting back to those watching.

"At least they are working off some energy," Donny offered, wincing as Mikey let out one of his signature high-pitched screams.

" _Ahhhhh ha ha ha ha!_ My arm doesn't bend that way! _Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_! Uncle! _Uncle_!"

The air horn was letting out spasmotic bursts of sound as the pair wrestled over it and with each stuttering blast the group in the lounge pit gave an involuntary flinch. Raph's left eye was starting to noticeably twitch as the fight dragged on, getting steadily louder and more violent.

" _Give me that fucking air horn, Mikey_!" Scarlett's voice had taken on a decidedly frenzied tone.

Casey watched with interest as the three older turtles looked at each other, one of their silent conversations zapping through the air between them in the form of raised eye ridges, pointed looks and flaring nostrils.

Finally Leo sighed loudly, "Fine, I'll go." he said tiredly."I have a feeling Master Splinter is already waiting for them in the dojo anyway." Squaring his shoulders he cleared his throat before striding towards the tussling pair. " _Yame_!" he yelled sternly.

"Still wanna go topside Jones?"

Casey's head snapped around as Raph asked the question, face brightening as he nodded. "Hell yeah!"

"C'mon then. I suddenly feel the need for some fresh air."

"Right behind you." Casey snagged his bag of hockey sticks and slung them over his shoulder as he followed Raph towards the turnstiles. On the way out he cast one last glance at Mikey who was picking himself back up off the floor as Leo restrained a still seething Scarlett by the back of her shirt.

"You kids have fun!" he called just before they ducked around the corner and out of sight.

"Kiss my ass, Jones!" Scarlett hollered after him.

"Backflips!" came Leo's barked reprimand and Casey grinned to himself as he caught the girl's furious growl. This hadn't been such a boring visit after all...

* * *

 _What did you think? Things are starting to get a little serious, better finish up this prank war before someone gets hurt!_

 _Review pretty please! Feed the writer :)_


	7. Febreze

_Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing Payback for me, it's just a few of you but you seem to be really enjoying it which has spurred me to keep going!_

 _Speaking of which, this chapter is for you TheRedScreech. Scarlett's epic reaction to Mikey's air horn prank :) Your last comment fuelled a full on writing session and totally blew out my word count to nearly 5,000 words lol._

 _Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT but if I did, I'm tellin ya, Mikey wouldn't be such a brainless idiot in the 2016 season!_

 _Anyway..._

* * *

This was it.

A nervous grin pulled at my mouth and I fought the urge to giggle. _C'mon Scarlett_ , I chided myself, _serious face_. Even then it still took a few seconds for the giddiness to pass. If I managed to pull this off I was going to be reigning prank queen for sure. I could almost rub my hands together like some villain in a cartoon I was so pleased with myself.

It had taken me the better part of three days to gather all the materials I'd needed for this mission. Not an easy thing to sneak around the lair with everyone on high alert but still I'd managed to get everything on my list with a lot of well-timed snooping and bit of luck. The hardest part had been acting innocent, like I wasn't plotting my revenge. I knew Mikey didn't quite believe that I'd let the whole air horn incident go because he'd been giving me funny looks ever since. _Well...he's right about that_ , I thought to myself with a smirk.

With a shake of my head I pressed a little harder against the wall and the tiny scrape my quiver made as it brushed over the bricks refocussed me. The notched ends of the practice arrows poked above my right shoulder, not as many of them as I would like but considering that the suction cup ends took up more space inside the container than real ones would, I just had to make do with what I could carry.

Over my left shoulder within reach was my small bow, strung and ready to go. Its angled harness crisscrossed with the quiver on my back, the straps which held them both in place making an 'X' over my chest. Their combined weight felt good and my grin made a small return as I considered that this probably wasn't what Donny had in mind when he designed them for me.

The sound of movement came from down the hall and I narrowed my attention there while trying to meld even further into the shadows pooled at the mouth of the corridor. If one of the guys opened their door now, or if someone came up behind me, I was confident it would take them a few moments to spot me. I'd dressed for the shadows, all my clothing and gear was dark. My face was mostly hidden by my cloth mask and what little skin was on show I'd blackened with dirt from the train tunnels. I was no ninja but at the moment I almost felt like one.

When nothing came of the sound I slowly relaxed, fingers loosening on the collection of canisters I was holding against my chest. Each one was full, which made them difficult to carry together so I needed to be careful. Dropping one of the tin cylinders in this hallway would probably cause enough noise to ruin my plan before it'd even begun.

 _Ok, time to move_. Keeping my weight on the balls of my feet I quickly slunk up the hallway, making sure not to brush against the wall in case the fabric of my top caught on its rough surface. The turtles' hearing wasn't any better than a human's but I didn't want to take any chances.

When I reached Mikey's bedroom I did a scan of all the other doors, the only ones open were mine and the bathroom's both of which were at the far end of the hallway. I knew Raph and Leo were in their rooms but I was banking on them staying put if they heard a bit of noise. They tended to ignore Mikey and I when we were mucking around unless we actually got in their way or things got too chaotic. Donatello was holed up in his lab; the heavy metal door had been shut firmly behind him. Nothing could draw him out of there short of a nuclear blast. Speaking of which...

With hushed movements I juggled the canisters in my hands, bending down to line them up against the wall on the side closest to where Mikey's bedroom door would open. Staying in a crouch I surveyed them critically. Each one was purple with white flowery script running down the side and had an exaggerated handle that you were supposed to squeeze to activate the spray. I didn't even bother trying to read the writing, I knew Febreze when I saw it. I wasn't sure why Donny had a box of the stuff tucked away in the back of his lab but I'd been stoked when I'd found it during my search for materials.

Each canister also had a thin white cable tie wrapped around its base. All I had to do was slide the strip up over the handle of the pressurised tube then pull the tie tight to trap the handle and make a breeze-bomb. Five breeze-bombs ready to go. Man, Mikey's room was gonna smell so _purdy_.

From my crouch I reached up to grasp the handle of Mikey's door. As soon as I turned the knob and eased the door open light flooded out into the hallway in hard lines that cut the dimness. Risking a peek through the two inch gap I frowned when I couldn't spot him. Taking a gamble I opened the door just a little further and craned my neck. Ah, there he was, on his bed reading one of his comic books. From my low angle I could only make out his huge feet, the bright cover of the comic and the top of his green head. Judging from the way one foot twitched rhythmically as he turned a page I was guessing he also had his headphones in. I had no idea how he could listen to Japanese pop music and focus on reading at the same time but right now it suited me perfectly. The noise pumping into his ears would cover the hissing of the bombs when I tossed them into his room.

Turning back to my collection of canisters I took a deep breath and prepared myself, flexing my fingers in anticipation. I would have to do this as quickly as I could. The turtle's sense of smell was as good, if not better than mine, so Mikey was certain to work out what I was up to as soon as he caught the first whiff. Plus there was no way I wanted to get caught too long amidst the syrupy sweet cloud of stink I was about to create. Just the thought of it made my head ache. Speed was key.

Three...two...one...with steady movements I began binding then tossing the canisters gently through the doorway. I made sure to roll each one in a different direction so that they achieved an even spread. Mere seconds passed as I worked speedily, my heart beating harder in my throat with each one I prepped then lobbed. By the time I reached the fourth my hands had the slightest tremble.

"What...ew what's that _smell_?" Mikey had finally twigged as to the new smell but his voice was more confused than angry as he muttered to himself. I heard the covers on his bed shift as I chucked the fourth can into his room, not even trying to be stealthy because I knew he'd spot the movement anyway now that his attention had been caught.

"Hey! _Scarlett_!"

 _Now_ he sounded a little angry. He barked my name then coughed a few times. His room must be filling up with scented spray pretty quickly.

I abandoned the last can and instead jumped up, using all my strength to pull the door shut and hold it there. Within seconds Mikey slammed into the other side and I felt a thrill of fear when the doorknob rattled under my hand. The door was hinged so that it opened inward, something that had annoyed me a little when I'd been planning this prank. It would be much easier to block a door opening outward then stop a door from opening inward. I was resolved to keep him in his room for as long as I could so I gripped that handle hard and pulled outward as he pulled inward. I hadn't been expecting to be able to hold it for very long so when I managed to resist the first few tugs I was surprised. So was Mikey.

"Let me out Scarlett!" came his warning shout from the other side of the heavy door.

"No way! Eat fumes Mikey!" I yelled back then grunted when the door heaved under my grip and opened an inch, allowing light to escape into the hallway once more.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. Instinctively I raised a foot and planted it on the wall next to the door handle to give myself some more leverage. All the muscles in my arms and back burned as I wrestled the door shut again.

I grinned as I heard Mikey grunt, "Jeez," he complained through the heavy wood. "Well this is awkward. Have you been working out or something?" I rolled my eyes at the accusing tone in his voice.

The pressure on the handle released and I imagined him stepping back to flex his muscles before trying again. I shifted my stance and gritted my teeth as I readied for the next attempt. When the door jerked and heaved again I was prepared but beads of sweat still popped out on my forehead as I strained to keep the door shut, damn he was strong.

Barely a minute later, I had to concede defeat. I could feel my grip weakening and my muscles tiring under the constant pressure so I countered by releasing the handle abruptly. Staggering back a step I caught my balance then laughed as an unprepared Mikey let out a cry of surprise. There was a huge _crash_ as the door flew open and smashed against the wall. This was followed by a hard _crack_ when his shell connected with something, probably his bed frame or the floor.

Whatever it was I had no chance of seeing it as a thin rolling mist of Febreze hit me smack in the face and caused tears to spring into my eyes. Even as I turned to run it began filling the hallway and I gagged on the intense smell that clogged my nose and mouth. The rate it was spreading it was going to reach into every room along the hallway and soak them in the artificial scent of flowers.

Thankfully it didn't take me long to escape the stink and soon I was back at the end of the hall where I'd started. I whirled around just in time to see Mikey stumble out of his room. He was coughing and spluttering as he wiped at his face. His eyes were bloodshot from irritation and when they caught mine he narrowed them at me. " _Anata ga shinde imasu_!"

I laughed at him, making sure the sound was loud to make up for the fact he couldn't see my face behind my mask. I held one hand up, palm out towards him in a 'stop' gesture. With my other hand I reached around to the small bag I had fastened to the belt loop just below the small of my back. Keeping my movements steady I slipped it free and loosened the tie ready to empty it onto the floor.

"Watashi o kyatchi!" I taunted back, turning my hand then jerking my fingers in a 'come on' gesture I'd seen a zillion times in martial arts movies.

A hard smirk twisted Mikey's lips as the whites dropped down over his eyes. Even though I knew he'd never hurt me a thrill of fear went through me anyway at how scary he looked. When he leapt into a sprint towards me I let out a small, involuntary scream. Whirling on my heel I made a run for it while as surreptitiously as I could I dropped to objects from the bag onto the floor to cover my tracks, praying that I'd managed to place them well enough to slow him down.

I'd made it halfway to the turnstiles when I heard his first loud howl of pain then I was over the barrier and ducking behind it to take cover. Considering I'd run for barely ten seconds I was ridiculously out of breath so I focussed on pulling air in through my nose and out through my mouth to slow my heartbeat. Adrenalin caused my muscles to shake and I pressed a hand over my cloth covered mouth to stifle another wave of giggles that rose in my chest. Fighting the feeling down I instead strained my ears to hear what was happening back at the mouth of the hallway.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow."

Judging from the tightness of his voice and accompanying shuffling sounds it seemed like Mikey had his teeth gritted as he hopped around and I almost felt bad for dropping my substitute caltrops. When I'd raided Mikey's room earlier that day I'd been pleased to find an old bag of marbles, but it was the oddly shaped dice in the top drawer of his desk which had been the real prize. There were a whole heap of them in a bag. Instead of having six sides like all the other dice I'd ever seen, these only had four which meant that they were triangular. I wasn't sure what their actual purpose was but, mixed in with the marbles, they'd covered my escape perfectly as they made the floor pointy and rounded all at once.

As Mikey's loud complaining continued, there was the sound of a door opening and I realised with a sinking feeling that one of the other brothers had just emerged from his room. Seems like we'd been too loud after all.

"Mikey, what is it _now_?"

Okay, so that was Leo's resigned voice. He didn't sound irritated yet so maybe...

"Holy shell, what the heck is that _smell_?"

Yeah, now he sounded irritated. There was another crash, louder this time. I assumed it was Raphael's bedroom door as it was flung open and I was proven right when his voice rose.

"What's all the...?" His rough question was cut off and replaced by the sound of coughing. "Jesus, is that _air freshener_?"

"Yes, and there's only about four freakin' cans worth of the stuff being emptied into my room right now," Mikey shot back, managing to sound lightly sarcastic and indignant at the same time. "You think it's bad out here you should try getting through my doorway, it stinks."

"What happened to your foot?" Leo's voice again, sharper now that he'd realised Mikey was in pain.

"The same thing that happened to my room," Mikey huffed. " _Scarlett_."

"Oh for the love of...don't tell me you two are at it again? I can't take much more of this!"

Raph sounded so fed up I felt his anger deflate me, like air being let out of a tyre. I bit my lip and sweated...maybe I should just quit now before I went ahead with the rest of my plan?

" _SCARLETT_!"

I winced as my name was hollered in unison by both Leo and Raph, ducking my head even though I was already completely hidden by the turnstiles. From the sounds of their shout the three brothers were leaving the hallway to make their way into the main area of the lair in search of me. Probably already thinking about what punishment they could give me.

" _Get your butt out here right now_!"

Oh my god, Leo sounded so mad. My lips twitched in response, well if he was already this worked up I might as well keep going...

 _Time for phase two_.

First, I risked a peek over the top of the turnstiles to check if I was right about the turtles' positions. Sure enough, they were spreading out as they searched around the lounge area. None of them were facing my direction as they searched which was perfect.

I kept an eye on their movements as my hands reached for the plastic tub sitting next to me. I'd prepared the contents earlier so that all I had to do was take aim. Gently I extracted two of the water balloons from the dozen that filled the tub then slowly rose to my feet, hoping that my slow movements wouldn't catch their attention and give me away too early.

It took less than a second to judge the distance between myself and Raph who was the closest to me. By the time the first water balloon broke over his curved shell a second one was already heading directly for the back of Mikey's head. A moment after that Leo got one right in the face as he turned at the sound of water splashing. Abandoning any effort to be stealthy or gentle I started lobbing the water balloons like a crazy person while the three of them flinched and yelped as they were splattered. A few of the wobbly globes broke in my hands as I snatched them up but I kept going as fast as I could and managed to score a few more hits before they recovered their wits and dove for cover.

"I thought you learned your lesson last time you tried to pull off a stupid prank!" Raph called out and I flicked my gaze quickly to his hiding spot behind the TV. No way I could throw a water balloon at him, destroying the TV would ensure my own demise.

Stooping down behind the turnstiles again I retrieved the two smoke bombs from their hiding place. They were nestled inside my beanie, fragile, literally made out of an egg shell. Each one contained the ingredients of a huge purple-black cloud of smoke and they were integral to the next part of my plan.

Cradling them gently in my right palm I laughed maniacally as I hopped up to stand on one of the turnstiles, balancing easily on the perch and drawing myself up to my full height. " _Fukushu_!" I shouted back, reaching over my shoulder to free my bow and holding it in my left hand. "You shouldn't have dunked me last time."

"Next time I'll hold you under for longer _gaki_!" came the hot retort and I laughed some more as he snarled.

There was a flash of orange from the lounge pit and I narrowed my gaze there. "C'mon Scarlett, don't be crazy. You know you can't hold all three of us off," Mikey called from his position where he had ducked down behind the edge of the concrete seating that ringed the pit. "Surrender now and we'll go easy on you!"

"No surrender!" I called back as I bent my right elbow ready to throw. "You cowards want me? Come get me!"

Predictably my words were met with a loud cry from Raphael as he sprinted from his hiding place towards me. At the same time Mikey leapt up with a delighted yell and joined his brother in the charge. With a careful flick of my arm I launched the smoke bombs, grinning at the renewed shock on both their faces a moment before smoke billowed up in a thick cloud at their feet and rose to consume them.

It was at this moment I belatedly realised that Leo had been suspiciously quiet and I turned just in time to see him running towards me on swift, silent feet from my left side. A smirk twisted his mouth, eyes shuttered white as he drew closer. Adrenaline zapped down my spine. Acting on pure instinct I jumped from the turnstiles, twisting in mid-air as I drew an arrow from the quiver on my back, notching it before I even landed. My feet naturally fell into position just in time for me to aim and release in one smooth movement. As soon as the first arrow flew I drew a second to chase it before I was on the move again. I'd managed to make Leo veer off course just long enough to buy myself a few extra seconds.

Bow in hand I made a bee line for the thickly spreading smoke and as soon as the swirl of purple and black encased me I dodged to the right. I was taking a gamble that Mikey and Raph would be too confused by the smoke bombs to sense me coming but I wanted to keep my movements erratic just in case. Surprise was also on my side, I was pretty sure they wouldn't be expecting me to run towards them.

Bending my knees I kept low as I moved through the shroud, silently drawing another arrow and notching it as I moved across the lounge, feeling my way mostly by memory. The smoke was designed to hang in the air long enough to allow escape so I wasn't overly concerned about my cover failing too early. I was more worried about accidentally bumping into an angry turtle.

Straining my ears I made my way towards the other side of the lounge pit and the spiral staircase where the third phase of my plan was waiting. I could hear very slight sounds of movement coming from either side of me and knew it was the turtles. Their movements were hushed, the only sounds to be heard were the whisper of a foot against concrete or the creak of leather here and there. I knew they were also trying to catch a clue as to my location. If either of them managed to grab me this game was over. My ears pricked as I caught a brush of sound behind me. Leo had joined the hunt and now I was covered on three sides.

To my left a swirl of smoke resolved itself into a faint outline and I halted in my crouch, one knee touching the ground to steady me as I carefully took aim. My hand trembled against my cheek for the briefest of moments before I let the arrow fly. Mikey's startled cry let me know who owned the shadow I had struck but I stayed perfectly still at the sound, ignoring the instinctual urge to make a run for it and waited instead. Sure enough, after a second another, larger shadow loomed from the right to pass in front of me and join its brother.

As soon as my right side was clear I rose to begin circling around the Raph and Mikey who were now clustered together and whispering heatedly to each other. As quickly and lightly as I could I scampered through the black fog and hoped I hadn't lost my sense of direction. I really needed to make it to the spiral staircase.

A few steps later the thick smoke thinned out to a lighter mist and I emerged from the cloud to find myself on the far side of the lair to where I'd started. In front of me was the half pipe. I was a little surprised at how far the smoke had spread. Looking back over my shoulder I saw that I had overshot the spiral staircase which was now rising out of the edge of a rapidly dissipating roll of fog. It had been barely ten seconds since I'd thrown the eggs and I probably had only five more before full vision would return to the turtles.

Three running steps followed by a jump and I grasped one of the wide middle steps of the staircase. Pulling myself up smoothly I slunk my way to the top and fell to my knees next to the other plastic tub I'd prepped then left there that morning. More balloons awaited much heavier than the previous ones I'd launched. I slid one free of the tub, careful not to pop it too early then peeked over the edge of the stair.

From my vantage point I could see that the lounge pit below was nearly clear of smoke. Raph and Mikey stood almost at the centre of the fog, casting sharp looks around them as their hands clenched and unclenched by their sides. Neither of them looked up and I shook my head with a sigh. No one ever looks up...

My flour bombs fixed their oversight. I made sure to aim for Mikey first and watched as the balloon exploded over him in a gigantic white shower. His green skin, nice and wet from the water balloons, immediately turned patchy white as the powder clung to him and mixed with the flour to make a sticky paste. Some of the spray got Raph as well and he let out a shout, jumping away from his little brother to avoid the worst of the spread. I took careful aim then unleashed the second bomb. Now it looked like there were two angry ghost turtles down there and I couldn't help the hysterical giggles that spilled out of me.

" _SCARLETT_!"

A puff of white powder accompanied Mikey's furious shout, shooting out from his mouth along with my name, and I clutched my stomach, howling helplessly with mirth while both brothers fumed.

"You should see your _faces_." I managed to call down in between snorts of laughter.

Raph wiped goop off his face and flicked it to the side before glaring up at me, amber eyes blazing out of his white face. " _Ooohhhhhhh_ , you...I'm gonna... _arrgggggg_..." His mouth worked and I watched in fascination as he lost the ability to form words. With a final heated growl Raph settled for coming after me, stalking towards the staircase and leaving a trail of gloopy white footprints behind him.

"Uh uh!" I chided, sobering a little as I hefted two more flour bombs, one in each hand. I grinned as both turtles flinched back reflexively. Raph managed to sputter, "Don't you _dare_!" and Mikey let out a "Nononononono!" as he waved his hands at me to stop, but I ignored their protests, lazily tossing the bombs so that they landed at their feet. The turtles disappeared in another billowing cloud and I dusted my hands off in satisfaction to the sound of their coughing and spluttering.

 _Fourth and final phase, lay low while the heat dies down._

It was a simple matter to rise to my feet, push open the trap door above my head and make my escape into the room at the top of the spiral staircase. This was the culmination of my prank. A safe place to hole up until tempers cooled and, if I was lucky, the huge mess I'd created had been cleaned up. I had enough food, water and entertainment stashed up here to last me a good long while and I was pretty confident that by the time I re-emerged the guys would have had enough time to see the funny side to my prank.

The sound of stomping footsteps climbing the stairs filled my ears and I lowered the trap door hurriedly then started dragging the stack of heavy suitcases over to block it from opening again. I'd filled the cases with as much random crap as I could to make them weighty enough that the turtles wouldn't be able to force their way in here. Working quickly I stacked the last obstacle then stood back and grinned at my handiwork.

Man, that had been intense. I reached up to pull the mask down from my mouth so I could take a deep breath, filling my lungs and raising my arms over my head in a full body stretch. _Prank queen rules supreme_.

"You forgot something."

My moment of self-congratulation ended abruptly as I literally jumped with fright, breath stuttering in my lungs so that I couldn't even give voice to the scream that lodged in my throat. I jerked around and dropped into a half crouch, eyes wide as they locked onto Leo who was leaning casually against the far wall of my refuge. He eyed me with a steely gaze that belied his relaxed posture, arms crossed loosely over his plastron as he smiled at me slowly.

"Or should I say some _one_."

"Ohhhh sewer apples," I said weakly as I straightened. Adrenaline was back, pumping through my muscles but I literally had nowhere to go. I'd trapped myself.

"Yeah," Leo agreed, letting his arms drop as he stepped towards me. "It's looking pretty bad for you right now."

"Backflips?" I asked hopefully with an attempt at a smile.

He laughed as he reached for me, "Not even close."

* * *

 _Anata ga shinde imasu_ \- you're dead

 _Watashi o kyatchi_ \- catch me

 _fukushu_ \- revenge

 _gaki_ \- brat

* * *

 _Epic enough? Please leave me a review if you enjoyed the chapter :)_

 _Next chapter is the finale, I'm planning for it to be pretty short but let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen._

 _I'm off to watch the new movie in just a few hours, there's an advanced screening at our local cinema and my kids are all pretty excited to see it. Here's hoping it's good!_


	8. Grand Finale

_Here it is, the grand finale! I was planning for it to be much shorter but, as usual, my muse ran away with me again._

 _ **MajorCartooniac** and **TheRedScreech** both had great suggestions for how this chapter could go. I worked in your ideas guys, thanks for the inspiration! _

_Also, thanks again to all my readers and reviewers. I've enjoyed trying my hand at writing comedy and I'm glad I could make you guys laugh a few times. Funny how action still managed to creep in there by the end lol._

 _Finally thanks again to my sister for being my beta. She is amazing and awesome xo_

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing!_

* * *

Mikey had been hanging upside down for so long it felt like all the blood in his body was now in his head. Pulsing pressure made his eyeballs feel like they were bulging from their sockets but he just blinked away the feeling, pushing his tongue against his teeth as he strained with effort.

"C'mon...c'mon...ahhhh, no! Yes yes yes yes, _yeah_!" Green thumbs flew furiously over the small buttons as a grin stretched his mouth. "Eat laser evil-looking-weird-caped-dude." He cackled triumphantly. He rested the controller on his plastron, shaking out one hand at a time and cracking his knuckles as he prepared to tackle the next level. He was starting to get more than a little uncomfortable in this position lying square on his shell but refused to budge, he had started the game this way so this was the way he was gonna finish it even if his carapace developed a flat patch...

Scarlett momentarily crossed his field of vision and his eyes flicked to her, watching as she dumped yet another armload of blankets onto the floor before tromping off again in the direction of the lab. She was nearing the end of cleaning up after the epic mess she'd made this morning, her current trips to and from the laundry were the last of her chores. Mikey picked up his controller again and un-paused the game, shaking his head a little at Scarlett's retreating back.

Freshly washed pillows and doonas were beginning to make a large pile in the middle of the lounge pit in preparation for tonight's sleep out. All their bedrooms had been made unliveable by Scarlett's breeze-bombs so everyone except Master Splinter was being forced to sleep out here until their rooms had aired enough to be inhabitable again. To say the other guys were pissed was a bit of an understatement and Mikey had to admit he wasn't really seeing the funny side to her prank right now either. Caught up in the heat of the moment he'd had a great time but then later when he'd realised just how stinky his room now was, along with all his stuff...

"Please, turn off your game Michelangelo."

Mikey lifted his head to find Master Splinter standing at his feet, hands clasped behind his back as he looked stoically down at his youngest son.

Obediently Mikey paused the game once more before twisting himself upright. "Sure," he yawned and stretched, "I was just thinking that I should probably switch to a movie, the other guys might like to watch..."

"There will be no screens of any kind tonight." His father shook his head and Mikey gaped up at him, frozen with one arm over his head and the other out to the side.

"What? _Why_?"

"Scarlett is banned from screens so therefore no TV tonight while you are sleeping in this room," Splinter responded calmly in the face of Mikey's rising dismay. "You and your brothers will have to find other ways to entertain yourselves before bedtime."

"Great," Raph slouched his way into the room followed closely by Leo and Donny, the latter holding a steaming stack of pizza boxes. "Not only are we forced out of our own bedrooms but now we can't even pass the time by watching a movie. Nice one Scarlett."

"I _said_ I was _sorry_." Scarlett was back with her last load of blankets. The tiniest grin pulled at her mouth even as she pouted and flung herself onto her back in the cushy nest she'd built. She draped an arm across her eyes dramatically and moaned. "I'll just go sleep in the lab so you guys don't have to be near me."

"Ah, no you will not," Donny disagreed as he handed out the boxes to his brothers who were spreading themselves around the lounge pit, grumpy expressions full force. "Your lab pass has been revoked until further notice." He shot her an exasperated look and plonked himself down next to Mikey to eat.

"Fine," she huffed and sat up again. "Then I'll just go to the dojo..."

She broke off when Master Splinter let out a discreet cough and Leo openly scoffed.

"Kitchen bench?"

Mikey half choked on his mouthful of pizza, shaking his head violently as he beat at his plastron with a closed fist. "Unsanitary," He managed to croak after swallowing roughly.

"I'm running out of places to go here guys," Scarlett said dryly as she slid from the pile of blankets then shuffled on her butt across the lounge pit to reach for a slice from the box Raph was holding. "Ow!" She pulled her hand back when he slapped it smartly, glaring at her and shaking his head minutely.

"Aw, c'mon Raphie," she wheedled, opening her eyes wide in a blatant attempt to soften him up. Her face was still streaked here and there with dirt from her earlier prank, a reminder of why everyone was annoyed with her. Mikey sniggered as he took another huge bite from his dinner.

"Come on nothin'," Raph glowered at Scarlett, unmoved by her puppy dog eyes. "In the last month I've had enough of you and Mikey to last me an entire lifetime. You've completely ruined jelly for me, all my stuff stinks like fake flowers and for some stupid reason my drumsticks are orange. I'm sick of pranks, I'm sick of the two of you...and don't call me Raphie or I'll thump you," he added as an afterthought.

"Perhaps it is time a truce was negotiated," Master Splinter interjected mildly. Scarlett glanced at their sensei then slid a sly sideways look at Mikey who stiffened indignantly when he caught her smug expression.

"But that would mean leaving the tally uneven," he protested, which immediately caused Scarlett to hide a smirk behind her hand. "I can't just walk away to leave today's prank unanswered. Think of the precedent it would set for all future throwdowns!" He pointed a piece of pizza at Scarlett as he rose to his feet, the other hand pointing a finger to the sky, "Dr Prankenstein shall be avenged!"

A chorus of groans was accompanied by a hail of pizza crusts and cushions. Mikey flinched, protesting the rude treatment from his brothers before finally subsiding back to the lounge and stuffing the slice of pizza into his mouth.

"I knew it would be too much to hope that either of you would have learned your lesson from today," Leo groused, narrowing his eyes at Scarlett who just smiled unrepentantly as she snuck a slice of pizza from under Raph's nose before he could stop her again. "Even after three hours of cleaning you _still_ won't give it up."

"Totally worth every single second," Scarlett informed him seriously. "The memory of kicking your guys' butts today is going to be burnt into my brain forever."

"How about the fact you still have extra training to do tomorrow? With me." Leo cocked his eye-ridge at her and she wilted a little.

"Still worth it," she muttered stubbornly, sinking back against the blanket pile.

"Hold on a sec," Raph leaned forward with an incredulous expression. "What the shell do you mean you kicked our butts?" His face was turning thunderous, "I'll show you a butt kicking you little..."

"So anyway," Donny said loudly and pointedly over the top of Raph's escalating threat. "If we can't watch any TV tonight how about a boardgame instead?" He looked around the group with raised eye ridges, "Might be a good way to wind down?"

"Pass," Leo responded immediately with a grimace. "Nothing competitive please. I don't think I could handle any more drama today."

"Singalong?" Mikey suggested hopefully.

Scarlett let out a long, loud raspberry accompanied by an exaggerated thumbs down. Her mouth was full of food which meant she then had to brush off wet crumbs that had dropped onto her sweater as she swallowed and said, "Noooooope."

"Gotta agree with _gaki_ on that one," Raph sank back against the lounge and took a massive bite of pie while Mikey pouted a little at being shot down.

Silence fell as everyone chewed thoughtfully. After a moment Leo cleared his throat, "Well," the blue banded leader mused hesitantly, "it's been a while but maybe Master Splinter could tell us a story..." He broke off with a frown when Raph let out a loud scoff. He shot his brother a quelling glare as he added, "You know, the old Japanese horror stories he knows about _yurei_ , _obake_ and _kappas_."

"Oooohhhhhhh _yes_!" Mikey's eyes popped open as he leaned forward towards his father hopefully. "That's an awesome idea!"

"Hmmmm, I don't know." Master Splinter stroked his beard as he met Mikey's pleading gaze with a doubtful expression. "Last time you became most distraught Michelangelo..."

"Pffffft! Last time I was, like, a kid!" Mikey scoffed, waving one hand dismissively. "I can totally handle it now."

"Last time was last year and you had nightmares for a week," Raph corrected dryly which caused Scarlett to muffle another giggle behind her hand. "You got so freaked out by the story of the kappa that you actually wanted to sleep in my bed with me."

"Whatever," Mikey waved away his brother's words again, unfazed by his recount of events. "Point is Master Splinter needs to tell us Japanese ghost stories."

A general murmur of agreement went around the lounge pit as each teen turned their eyes to Splinter.

"Very well." The tall rat surveyed the sea of hopeful gazes, inclining his head slightly before crossing to the middle of the lounge pit, sinking down into a seated position and adjusting his robes over his crossed legs with neat flicks of his wrists. "But for this story I will require one candle. Leonardo would you please fetch one from my quarters?"

"Hai Sensei," the eldest turtle bowed before hurrying away to complete the task. In the few moments of his absence Donny went around the lair to extinguish the other main lights and by the time Leo returned, the lounge pit was bathed in flickering shadows. Scarlett meanwhile had busied herself handing out the pillows and blankets she'd collected earlier and soon everyone was resettled and waiting in their chosen sleeping spots around the lounge pit.

Splinter sent one last look around the darkened room, meeting each of their eyes in turn before beginning his story...

 _On the Akasaka Road, in Tokyo, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka. On one side of this slope is an ancient moat, deep and very wide, with high green banks rising up to some place of gardens. On the other side of the road extend the long and lofty walls of an imperial palace. This neighbourhood is very lonesome after dark, belated pedestrians go miles out of their way rather than mount the Kii-no-kuni-zaka alone after sunset. All because of the yurei that walks there._

"A _yurei_ is a type of ghost," Mikey leaned over to whisper into Scarlett's ear. She shivered as his warm breath tickled her neck, pushing him away with a grimace without taking her eyes off Master Splinter.

The look the turtles' sensei gave Mikey was tinged with just the slightest hint of exasperation. "Yes, it is, and what have I told you about interrupting?"

"Heh, sorry," Mikey grinned sheepishly and subsided back onto his blankets.

Splinter held his gaze for another moment before returning to his tale, voice low and mesmerising as he spun the story.

 _Late one night an old merchant was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, when he saw a woman crouching by the moat, all alone and weeping bitterly. Fearing that she intended to drown herself he stopped to offer her assistance. She appeared to be a slight and graceful person, handsomely dressed, and her hair was arranged like that of a young girl of good family._

 _"O-jochu," he exclaimed, approaching her, "O-jochu, do not cry like that!…Tell me what the trouble is and if there be any way to help you, I shall be glad to do so."_

 _But she continued to weep, hiding her face from him with one of her long sleeves. Her distress pulled at the old merchant's heart for he was a kind man and did not like to see another soul so distraught, especially one young enough to be his own daughter._

 _"O-jochu," he said again, as gently as he could, "please, please listen to me!… This is no place for a young lady at night! Do not cry, I implore you! Only tell me how I may be of some help to you!"_

 _He came closer, drawn by her cries, and soon was directly behind her. Slowly she rose up, but turned her back to him and continued to moan and sob behind her sleeve._

 _He laid his hand lightly upon her shoulder, and pleaded: "O-jochu! O-jochu! O-jochu!… Listen to me, just for one little moment!… O-jochu! O-jochu!"_

 _Then that O-jochu turned around and dropped her sleeve. Beforehis eyes she stroked her face with her hand, and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or mouth. Pitiful sobs continued to sound yet she had no way to voice them._

 _"Tasukete." She moaned, reaching for him with one white hand._

 _The old merchant screamed and recoiled from her. Up Kii-no-kuni-zaka he fled, blind and overcome with terror. All was black and empty before him. Stones and roots tripped his feet, sent him to his knees, yet he picked himself up and kept running. Never daring to look back for fear he would see her following, her smooth white face glowing in the darkness._

 _At last he saw a lantern, so far away that it looked like the gleam of a firefly, and he made his way towards it. As he drew closer he convinced himself he could feel the smooth cold fingers of the girl tickling the back of his neck until finally he threw himself at the light, sobbing with relief._

 _It proved to be only the lantern of an itinerant soba-seller who had set down his stand by the road-side; but any light and any human companionship was good after his terrifying experience._

 _He flung himself down at the feet of the soba-seller, crying out, "Ah! — aa! — aa!"…_

 _"Kore! kore!" roughly exclaimed the soba-man. "Here! What is the matter with you? Anybody hurt you?"_

 _"No — nobody hurt me," panted the old merchant, "only… Ah! — aa!"_

 _"Only scared you?" queried the peddler, unsympathetically. "Robbers?" He helped the merchant to his feet, holding his arms tightly and peering into his eyes._

 _"Not robbers, not robbers," gasped the terrified man… "I saw… I saw a woman — by the moat; — and she showed me… Ah! I cannot tell you what she showed me!" He clung to the soba-man, certain he would fall if he didn't._

 _"Ha! Was it anything like THIS that she showed you?" cried the soba-man, letting go of the old merchant with one hand to stroke his own face —which transformed to become white and smooth like an egg._

 _With a loud cry the merchant tried to pull away but was stopped by the hand on his arm, strong as steel and immovable as a mountain. The peddler hissed as he drew the man closer and closer, ignoring his struggles. "Uemashita..."_

 _… and, simultaneously, all the lights in the village went out._

With that Master Splinter extinguished the candle, plunging the lounge pit into darkness. The abrupt change left the teenagers momentarily blinded and the resulting unease in the air was almost palpable...or at least Mikey thought it was.

"And then what?" Scarlett's voice, loud and right next to his ear, startled Mikey so bad he let out a yelp. The others gave disembodied groans in the darkness and at that moment the youngest turtle was certain that they'd been as enthralled as he by their father's story.

"What?" Scarlett came back into view as their sensei relit the candle. Her eyes shone in the darkness like twin mirrors, throwing back the light as she looked around and saw the flat expressions being thrown her way. She shrugged apologetically, one shoulder lifting as her mouth tilted at the corner. "Sorry Master Splinter, but I've seen a ton of horror stories way scarier than that. But..." she ran a hand through her hair and shrugged before finishing lamely, "...you know, it was still really interesting."

Mikey caught her eye, pinning her with a pointed look from under his brow and giving her a shake of his head before turning to his father. "Well I thought it was a great story Sensei. I totally got the shivers."

"Yeah, thanks dad," Leo chipped in followed by the rest of his brothers.

Master Splinter's whiskers twitched in acknowledgement, a small smile tugging at his mouth. Rising to his feet smoothly he said, "Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the tale. And now it is past time you were all asleep." He fixed them all with a last long look which had the teenagers obediently scooting down under their blankets.

"Goodnight."

* * *

"Mikey?"

Mikey awoke to the feeling of someone poking him in the eye. He groaned, batted at the hand that was roughly scrabbling over his face and attempted to roll away from whoever was currently being a massive jerk.

"Mikey!" The hiss came again, low and urgent. "Mikey, is that you?"

"No," he grumbled, growing more annoyed when he found he was pinned under something that pressed into the direct centre of his chest. "Go away."

"Wake up." The hand flattened against the side of his face, lifted, then came back with a sharp slap.

That did it. Mikey sat up abruptly, dislodging the weight from his chest and sending it tumbling to the floor with a squeal. "Scarlett? Did you just slap me?" he demanded hotly, eyes squinting as they searched the darkness then settling into a frown when he discovered he couldn't make out a single thing.

"It's still the middle of the night, why are you climbing all over me and slapping my face?" he grumbled, pulling his blanket back over his shoulder and thumping back to his pillow. He rolled his eyes as he heard Scarlett scuffle around on the floor for a bit then her hand found him again, tugging at his blanket as she pulled herself back towards him.

"It's dark," she whispered right next to his ear.

"Uh, yeah, night time," Mikey said in exasperation. "Now go back to sleep before you wake the others and get us into even more trouble."

"No, I mean it's _dark_ ," Scarlett said insistently, shaking at his shoulder. "Like, I-can't-see-anything-at-all dark. And also," her voice quavered a little, "I don't think the others are actually here..." she trailed off and the uneasiness in her voice was what had him casting off the last of his drowsiness.

"Wait," Mikey sat up and looked around again, the cloying darkness suddenly taking on a whole new weight. "You can't see anything? Nothing at all?"

"No," her voice dropped back down to a whisper. "It's like I've gone totally blind. I think the power has been cut or something."

"Oh," that was something to be concerned over right? If Scarlett couldn't see anything then there wasn't a single beam of light in this whole place. "And you can't find the others?" he asked hesitantly.

There was a slight rustle and he imagined her shaking her head. "I looked all around here before I finally found you. They're gone. I can smell where they were and their blankets are still a little warm but they aren't there anymore."

He heard her swallow and her voice dropped lower before she admitted quietly, "I'm actually kinda scared, I forgot how much I hate it when I can't see. And it's so quiet. I think...it feels like...I feel like something is watching us..."

 _Oh jeez_. Chills worked their way up and down Mikey's spine and he reached for her before he'd even really thought about it, only to find she was already reaching for him. Together they climbed to their feet, still clinging to one another. Scarlett pressed her back against his plastron and when he dropped an arm over her left shoulder she pulled it across her chest so she could hug it tightly. He could feel her heart beating rapidly against his forearm and it sent his own pulse skyrocketing.

"Raph?" His brother's name came out as an unmanly squeak and Mikey cleared his throat before trying again. "Donny? Leo? Where are you guys?" His voice echoed hollowly in the enormous space and all at once he was struck with the feeling that they were floating in a great void of nothingness instead of safely inside their hidden lair. Your imagination is starting to carry you away again, he chastised himself sternly, tightening his arm around Scarlett just a little and fixing his face into a more confident expression in the hope it would carry over to the rest of his brain.

As the last echo died away he felt Scar hold her breath and mimicked her, listening intently. "Maybe they've gone to the bathroom?" he suggested after what felt like an eternity.

"All at the same time?" she whispered back.

"Uh, yeah okay," he acknowledged before pausing to think again. "So, what about sounds? Can you hear anything?" Scarlett's ears were much more sensitive than his; if anything was moving in here she would pick it up first. Her hair brushed against his jaw as she shook her head.

"No, it's so silent. I can't...wait..." Her head turned sharply and he followed the movement even though it was pointless. "F-footsteps?" A second passed and her head turned sharply again in the other direction. "Hello?" she called out. "I can hear you...I know you're there...Leo?" Her voice ended on a squeaky whisper, almost pleading.

This time Mikey heard the shuffling footsteps too, but it was the noise that followed that caused his entire body to erupt into a sea of goosebumps. Low, wheezing laughter on his right side, just on the edges of his hearing. At the same time a high pitched cackle skittered behind him. He had the sensation of a body moving past him, almost brushing against him before moving away again without making contact.

When Scarlett jerked then let out a choked scream he tightened his hold on her so abruptly the air wooshed from her lungs. "Something just pulled at my leg," she whimpered.

A rush of anger rose to replace his fear and Mikey lifted his chin to the ceiling, "Cut it out guys!" His angry voice bounced back to him mingled with another wave of snickers and low titters. His momentary boost of bravery withered in his chest. He'd never heard his brothers make those sounds before. Maybe this wasn't his bro's, maybe it was something else, something more sinister...

"Mikey, look," Scarlett's voice pulled his attention and he swivelled his head around blindly. At first he still couldn't see a single thing but then, like a gradual sunrise over the horizon, a faint tinge of colour caught his eye. He fixated on it, so faint in the beginning that he could almost believe that he was imagining it, but then after a handful of seconds he became sure. There was a glow gathering off in the darkness, spreading illumination in a small but widening spread of green light.

"I think it's coming from the pool," Scarlett breathed, relief tainting her voice. "I can see the outline of the tyre swing."

Mikey squinted closer and after a moment nodded, the glow was now strong enough he could make out the faint, shimmery surface of the water. "C'mon," he murmured, forcing wobbly knees to cooperate, "let's get a closer look."

Together they climbed out of the pit, still holding onto each other tightly, and shuffled their way across the lair mostly by feel. No more creepy whispers or brushes of movement occurred and with each step towards the light tension ebbed from both their bodies. Light was safety right?

Mikey followed Scarlett's lead, trusting her to pick her way around obstacles that she saw much more clearly than he did. When she came to an abrupt halt only a few feet from the lip of the pool he immediately followed suit.

"What is it?" he frowned, tension clawing its way back into his muscles as he felt her stiffen against his chest.

"Someone's there, just on the other side of the water," she said, fingers digging into his forearm. "And they smell _awful_ , like...like freshly turned dirt and rotting meat."

At her description Mikey felt the breath freeze in his lungs as he realised he could smell the same thing. He lifted his nose from where he'd unconsciously buried it in the warm crown of her head and immediately the odour became much stronger without the mask of her scent. There was the faint sound of splashing and suddenly the glow coming from the water was much stronger. Green light radiated up from the depths to cast wavering shadows against the stone walls. Shimmers flittered over nearby surfaces as the water swirled gently as though it had been disturbed by something slick and stealthy.

On the other side of the pool a dark figure stirred, separated its self from its nest of shadows and stepped to the edge of the water. The smell of death intensified and Mikey felt a wave of light headedness when the breath caught in his chest still refused to move. Tall and human shaped, clothed in a dingy brown cloak that hid its wearer amidst long sleeves and a deep cowl. Menace radiated from the figure in waves.

With a sharp movement two pale white hands darted out from beneath the ratty sleeves of the robe, shoving back the hood to reveal the head beneath. Before the two teenagers could get more than a glimpse the figure let out a terrifying hiss, leaping across the water towards them with so little effort its movements seemed inhuman. It easily crossed the expanse and landed in front of them without a sound, those same white hands reaching for them with long, hooked fingers.

Mikey felt all his insides turn to liquid as the horrible face loomed, filling his entire vision with smooth white where features should be.

" _Uemashita_..."

The single word rasped over his eardrums like the crackle of dead leaves. Its utterance finally unlocked Mikey's throat as he found his lost breath on a violent intake that filled his lungs sharply.

" _YUREI_!"

The terrified yell had barely left his mouth when something wrapped around his chest from behind and yanked hard. Scarlett let out her own horrified scream as she was torn from him, white arms wrenching her away and dragging her into the darkness where he couldn't see.

He cried out her name as he stumbled backwards, knocked off-balance by a heavy weight pulling on his shell. Even as he fell he pried at the white limbs holding him, wriggling desperately to get away and only managing to turn his head enough to get a glimpse of the entity that grappled him. He came up short when they came face to face, eyes widening in terror as he took in yet another blank white expanse like the shell of an egg.

" _AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_!"

The scream ripped from his throat so hard it felt like it tore his vocal chords and the creature holding him cackled into his ear, long and loud and completely terrifying. He continued to struggle wildly, breath coming in small hitches as he tried to get away, but he was caught too firmly within its grip.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. The brilliant glare whitewashing his vision to the point he was yet again rendered sightless. The arm around his chest remained firm, holding him still while he rubbed at his eyes and blinked, panting in laboured breaths as his sight cleared.

The room swam into focus but the first thing Mikey noticed as the fog of fear cleared was that laughter was sounding again. He frowned when he immediately recognised Raph's rough chortle, whipping his head around when he heard Scarlett's furious cry, " _You guys are jerks_!"

Just a handful of feet away she was facing off against the red-banded turtle and looking absolutely livid. He had a white mask pushed up on top of his head, expression twisted into a satisfied smirk in the face of her anger. Across his chest his arms were folded and Mikey felt himself gape when he saw his brother's hands and forearms were stained white.

Looking down at his own chest Mikey found similar pale arms snaked across his plastron. When he turned his head he was once again faced with a smooth expanse of white. One of the arms gripping his chest released him, rising to tilt the mask back, then it was Donny grinning down at him, mouth stretched wide and eyes crinkled with mirth.

Mikey pushed his brother away, scrabbling back to his feet and swinging his head back and forth between the other two turtles. "What. The. Shell?"

"You should have seen your faces," Leo spoke from further back in the lair and when Mikey turned that way he saw his eldest brother striding towards them through the lounge pit. As he caught Leo's eye the blue banded turtle hunched his shoulders and raised his clawed fingers to paw at the air as he let out a high pitched cackle that caused the skin to prickle along Mikey's arms.

"My _face_? Dude! I nearly had a heart attack and _died_!" Mikey rubbed both hands over his upper arms, relief warring with a growing irritation.

"I know! It was hilarious!" Raph sniggered, unfazed when Scarlett gave his shoulder a rough shove.

"Not cool Raph," she glowered at him then swept her gaze around to the others. "Whose brilliant idea was this?"

"Mine." Master Splinter stepped forward from where he'd been standing perfectly still in the shadows cast by a nearby pillar. Scarlett let out a squeak when she saw he was still wearing the smooth white mask with the cowl once again pulled up. Even in the light their sensei cut a creepy and imposing figure as he towered over them.

Mikey caught a strong whiff of decay and realised that it came from the robe his father was wearing. He watched with growing admiration as the mutant rat removed the white mask with his stained paws and scanned them all with his red tinged eyes. He really is the master, he thought to himself with a spurt of pride.

"I trust you enjoyed my prank?" Splinter asked mildly, twitching one ear when his three older sons broke into smothered giggles.

"No," Scarlett sputtered. "That was freakin awful."

Splinter turned his attention to her, voice rising gently with the pretence of surprise. "No?" he echoed, stroking his goatee. "But I thought anybody was welcome to join this so-called prank war you've been giving so much time and energy to lately. I was simply showing you what I am capable of as a contender should it continue in the future." He trailed off pointedly and Mikey felt his stomach twist. Judging by Scarlett's face and the way it drained of colour, she felt the same roll of horror at the thought of going through a similar experience ever again. They both let out strangled noises as they shook their heads.

"I see. So I take it that this prank war will not be going any further?" He raised a pointed eyebrow and once again Scarlett and Mikey shook their heads mutely. "As you wish."

"Well thank shell for that," Raph sounded immensely pleased as he tossed his white mask to Donny then made his way back to the lounge pit with a yawn. "Now maybe I can finally get through a whole day without being disturbed by you two idiots."

"Amen," Donny agreed, catching the mask his brother threw then taking the items that his father handed him.

"Gotta say I'm glad it's over as well," Leo agreed. "But parts of it were actually kinda fun." He sat down on his makeshift bed, a grin twisting his mouth as he slid Scarlett a look. "You have no idea how long I practiced that cackle for out in the sewer tunnels. I'm pretty sure I convinced the homeless guy down the block that the storm drain is haunted."

"Well top points go to you," Scarlett replied as she finished moving her own sleeping pallet next to Mikey's then dove under her covers and pulled them up to her chin. "I am officially never going to be able to close my eyes or sleep ever again."

"Try," Donny suggested dryly as he turned off the main light, leaving Scarlett to shiver and scoot closer to Mikey.

"Once again I bid you goodnight," Master Splinter said as everyone was once again settled under their covers. A soft chorus of replies followed him as he retreated to his quarters, then silence fell as they all began drifting back to sleep.

Mikey crossed his arms behind his head and gazed up at the ceiling, comforted by Scarlett's warm weight pressed against his side. Minutes passed but the orange-banded turtle found his thoughts drifting back to the events of the past month. A frown pinched the skin between his eyes.

"Guys?" he finally called softly, "Hey, guys?"

"Mmmph?"

A sleepy murmur answered him and he addressed his question to the general darkness.

"So...who do you reckon won the prank war...? Hey! No! I was just _kidding_..."

* * *

 _yurei_ \- ghost

 _yokai_ \- demon

 _gaki_ \- brat

 _kappa_ \- water monster

 _obake_ \- shapeshifting spirits

 _tasukete_ \- help me

 _o-jochu_ \- maid servent

 _kore_ \- 'this' or 'there'

 _uemashita_ \- hungry

* * *

The story Splinter told was adapted from 'Stories and Studies of Strange Things' by Lafcadio Hearn. I don't own the story and want to give credit to the original author

* * *

 _So what did you think? Please take a minute to leave a review :)_

 _And now I'm back to working on 'Neko'. Give me a few weeks and I should get the next few chapters out. School holidays are just around the corner so lets hope my muse cooperates!_


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